[BIO] Mike Majkowski [Australia]
Después de recibirse del Conservatorio de Música de la Ciudad de Sydney, Australia, el contrabajista Mike Majkowski ha desarrollado un interés fuerte hacia la música experimental y exploratoria. Siempre interesado en la música altamente improvisada, sobre todo relacionado a la serie de conciertos experimentales «The NOW now Series», Mike ha organizado conciertos de música improvisada en Sydney y sus alrededores, incluyendo el festival anual «The NOW now Festival Of Spontaneous Music».
Sus proyectos actuales incluyen: ROIL con el pianista Chris Abrahams y el percusionista James Waples; BLIP con el multi instrumentista de viento Jim Denley; STRIKE con el violinista Jon Rose y el contrabajista Clayton Thomas; la orquesta improvisada electroacústica con sede en Sydney THE SPLINTER ORCHESTRA; y SOLO, donde investiga técnicas alternativas seleccionadas para cada obra y utilizado correlaciones y yuxtaposiciones para articular caracteres musicales.
Aparte de estas actividades, Mike colabora con los mejores artistas australianos, como Amanda Stewart, Clare Cooper, Monika Brooks, Robbie Avenaim, Dale Gorfinkel, Martin Ng, Robin Fox, y Sean Baxter. El contrabajo de Mike se ha destacado en obras de compositores reconocidos como Hollis Taylor (Songs Of The Pied Butcher Bird, 2007) y Kraig Grady (Our Rainy Season, 2010).
Desde 2008, Mike ha tocado Europa, con presentaciones en Densites (Francia 2010), Festival Alternativni Tvorby (Opava/Ostrava 2010) y The Doek Festival (Amsterdam 2008). Últimamente Mike ha tocado con artistas mundialmente reconocidos como Han Bennink, Paul Lovens, Paul Lytton, Tristan Honsinger, Tobias Delius, Cor Fuhler, Axel Doerner, Tony Buck, Steve Heather, Eric Boeren, Michael Moore y Wilbert de Joode.
«En este momento Mike Majkowski es el contrabajista mas creador en Sydney. Observándolo tocar es casi una experiencia vertiginosa, cuando sus manos recorren el instrumento con una velocidad impresionante, aplicando todo tipo de manipulación instrumental no convencional, hasta introduciéndole objetos ajenos…»
– Tony Mitchell, Music Forum Magazine, Agosto 2010.
«Sorpresivo y sutil. No conozco ningún contrabajista con su control de todo tipo de técnica alternativa.»
– Arie Altena, DNK-Amsterdam, Diciembre 2009.
«…una actitud angular con cambios sorprendentes, contrastes agudos y elegante sostenidos, siempre sometido a gestos. Una exploración audaz, a la vez lúdica y altamente seria.»
– Gail Preist, Real Time, Febrero – Marzo 2009.
Double bass-player Mike Majkowski graduated from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in and has since developed an active interest in music of an exploratory and experimental nature. Mike is a long time devotee of the improvised music community in Sydney, which is largely centered around the NOW now and The Splinter Orchestra (of which Mike is a founding member). With the NOW now, Mike has organized concerts of improvised music in and around Sydney, including the annual NOW now Festival Of Spontaneous Music.
Current projects include: ROIL (with pianist Chris Abrahams & percussionist James Waples), BLIP (with multi-reed instrumentalist Jim Denley), STRIKE (with violinist Jon Rose & double bassist Clayton Thomas), THE SPLINTER ORCHESTRA (large-scale electro-acoustic Sydney-based improvisational group), and SOLO (where he is currently exploring how the use of refined extended techniques develops the sound and style of the work; how these technical possibilities create dialogues between each other, and within one another).
Aside from these projects, Mike has collaborated with a number of Australia’s foremost exploratory musicians, including: Amanda Stewart, Clare Cooper, Monika Brooks, Robbie Avenaim, Dale Gorfinkel, Martin Ng, Robin Fox, and Sean Baxter. Mike’s double bass playing has also been featured in the works of accomplished Australian-based composers of contemporary music: Hollis Taylor (Songs Of The Pied Butcher Bird, 2007) and Kraig Grady (‘Our Rainy Season’ 2010).
Since 2008, Mike has toured throughout several countries in Europe, performing as a soloist and in groups at festivals such as Densites (France 2010), Festival Alternativni Tvorby (Opava/Ostrava 2010), and The Doek Festival (Amsterdam 2008). Mike’s recent forays into Europe have seen him collaborating with a number of world renowned improvising musicians including: Han Bennink, Paul Lovens, Paul Lytton, Tristan Honsinger, Tobias Delius, Cor Fuhler, Axel Doerner, Tony Buck, Steve Heather, Eric Boeren, Michael Moore and Wilbert de Joode.
«Mike Majkowski is currently the most inventive double bass player in Sydney. Watching him play is almost a dizzying experience as his hands fly about his instrument, playing it in all kinds of unconventional ways, even introducing foreign objects to it on occasion…»
– Tony Mitchell, Music Forum Magazine, August 2010.
«Stunning and subtle. I don’t know many bass players with such a command of extended and alternative techniques.»
– Arie Altena, DNK-Amsterdam, December 2009.
«…an angular approach of sudden shifts, sharp shocks and elegant sustains, constantly working the gesture. A bold, playful yet utterly serious exploration.»
– Gail Preist, Real Time, Feb – March 2009.
Foto bio / Bio portrait: http://laznia.pl/aktualnosciart,964,mike_majkowski_.html.