Musicatlas
Music
Life
Anne La Berge is a pioneer flutist/composer, working since the late 70’s with interactive computer systems, microtonality, improvisation and as a leading interpreter of contemporary chamber music. At the core of her work lies the sound that first gained her an international reputation, paving the way for a new, more physical approach to the flute: "The miracle of her sound technique is supported by, among other things, different lip-positions, attacks, ways of breathing, distance from the microphone-everything has been foreseen and elaborated," writes Muusika. "Her textures are often two-voiced. It is all so complicated that it defies description and yet it sounds very natural, like a bird’s song." Entracte adds, "This next to, and often combined with, normal flute playing; her playing is fully virtuosic."
Anne La Berge grew up in Minnesota, USA and has lived since 1989 in Amsterdam. She currently performs with David Dramm, Cor Fuhler, Huib Emmer, Anna McMichael, Marko Ciciliani and in numerous improvisation and chamber music projects in Europe and the US. She can be heard in a range of settings from modern ballet music in the music theaters of Holland to improvised electronic music in the local squat buildings. In October 1999 she co-founded the series "kraakgeluiden" for weekly electro-acoustic improvisation sessions in Amsterdam. This series has gained an international recognition for its adventuresome programming and receives financial support on the local and national level. A compilation CD of the sessions was released by Unsounds in August 2003.
In the 2001 season she commissioned Anne Wellmer and Alison Isadora to compose solo works for her with interactive/improvised music and video. These works, Travelling barefoot and Native Tongue have toured Holland and the US. She commissioned and toured the Flute Concerto #1 by Hanna Kulenty with the Dutch ensemble, The Ereprijs, and performed her own works, The Freaks went to sea, Cross and Prairie Gears at festivals in Holland, Austria and the US. The current versions of these pieces are built in LiSa, a computer program for live sampling developed by STEIM in Amsterdam. Anne is an active particpant as performer and composer and producer in the interactive internet project Quintet.net by Georg Hajdu (www.quintet.net).
In November 2001 the city of Groningen, Holland dedicated a week long festival called