ensemble

Moving Strings is a platform for the research of sound and movement, in creative as well as educational context,
working together since 2018. We are a matriarchal, non-hierarchical creative performing ensemble, we create our own work and perform it in theaters, alternative spaces and site-specific settings, and collaborate with musicians, choreographers and artists; We hold regular research sessions, workshops and creative laboratories and teach in non/academic institutes.

Ensemble members: Maya Felixbrot, Alex Welch, Noortje Kohne - Viola, Geerte de Koe - Violin, Shana Brown - Violin, Jonathan Nagel - Double-bass, Camille Verhaak - Clarinet, Irene Sorozabal - voice and Recorders, Aina Font - Saxophone, Manuela Tessi - choreographer.

We are always excited to collaborate and exchange, feel free to write us: [email protected]
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Aina Font - Saxophone

Aina Font is a saxophonist and performer based in Amsterdam.
She specialized in innovative approach to classical music, contemporary music, interdisciplinary projects and music for an inclusive society.
After graduating her master at Conservatorium van Amsterdam with Arno Bornkamp and Willem Van Merwijk, she continues developing herself collaborating with renowned artists from a broad range of disciplines. “I find inspiration in many different art fields because as an artist you do not only develop your craft but also your aesthetic thinking, and that is a common and exciting link”
Aina describe herself as a versatile musician: from collaborating with sound artists creating avantgarde performances in the Amsterdam scene, to performing in Concertgebouw and Opera-Zarzuela in the Royal Theater.
She is member of several ensembles based in the Netherlands :
Moving strings (a platform for the research of sound and ensemble in residence at Gaudeamus & Splendor 23’) Duo Nim (a saxophone-cello duo Jeunes Talents France 2023), Font-Tegnander ensemble (saxophone-sound artist duo reacting with sound installations) and Duo Earth (sax-accordion duo dedicated to contemporary music Winner with highest distinction at the Royal Conservatory of Budapest).
Aina has performed in festivals like NJO muziekzomer, Grachten festival, NPO4 Radio klassiek and venues like Muziekgebouw, Muziekgebouw Eidhoven, Amphion Theater, Tivoli Utrecht.

Shana Brown - Violin

Shana is a British/German violinist and performer with a foundation in Jazz and improvised music and a passion for interdisciplinary exchange and performance. Her journey with music began in classical and folk music which she learned from an early age attending a weekly music school. In 2015 she moved to Berlin with the plan to study visual arts
but instead found herself immersed in the city’s vibrant music scene, and began exploring the versatility of the violin through improvising and playing with other musicians on the streets and at nightly jam sessions. Since 2019 she has been living in Amsterdam where she recently graduated from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with a bachelor in Jazz
Violin. Her musical ideas and compositions are flavoured with
impressionistic colours and take on a cinematic approach. Since 2017 she has performed as a member of various ensembles and bands, in clubs, theatres, at festivals and events and regularly collaborates with dancers and visual artists to create multidisciplinary performances, combining her wide ranging artistic interests.

Alex Welch ~ Viola

Viola player, freelancing with Metropole Orkest, session musician for TV, radio and musicals. Member of Moving Strings since 2018. Since 2021 Maya and I have been researching the intersection of instrumental technique, movement practices and mindfulness. I have been meditating regularly since 2018.
https://alexwelch.nl/

Maya Felixbrot ~ Viola

I'm a musician, Violist and composer. In my artistic and professional practice I reconnect sound and movement, through music and the Laban Bartenieff Movement System. I compose my own music, often electro-acoustic, and music for theater, dance, film and visual arts, and perform as a soloist and with ensembles. I'm the co-founder and co-artistic leader of ensembles Moving Strings (moving musicians, ensemble in residence at Gaudeamus and Splendor 23') and Zvov (dada cabaret). I co-curate Screen Dive (online platform for experimental musical games). Games, improvisation, discipline and its multiplicity are for me a means as well as a meaning. I teach, coach and facilitate gatherings for people from age 0-100~, from varied backgrounds. I have a BA in Viola from The Jerusalem Academy for Music and Dance, BA and MA in composition from The Royal Conservatory, The Hague. I'm a Certified Movement Analyst and Educatore (Emove, ISMETA, 2022).

Irene Sorozabal ~ Voice and Recorder

Irene Sorozábal is a Spanish recorder player and singer based in Amsterdam. She performs a variety of music ranging from medieval to contemporary classical music as well as improvised and original music. Irene sings in ensembles like Capella Amsterdam, Bachkoor Holland and Omroepkoor. She also plays recorder in the renaissance consort The Royal Wind Music.

As a performer, singer and composer, Irene collaborates with visual artists, theatre makers and choreographers. She has composed music for theatre works by Abhishek Thapar (SpringUtrecht 2021), Sonia Kazovsky with Maya Felixbrodt (Mondriaan Fonds 2022) and Jimmy Grimma (Debatable Lands 2020). In 2022, Irene released her first compositions for jazz quintet with the label TRPTK. The album is called Kurkuma, it was supported by Amarte Fonds and featured as album of the week in Passaggio Late Night NPO4.

Irene curates a performance series for independent makers called Encuentros funded by Fonds Podium Kunsten (2021) and Amsterdam Fonds voor de Kunst (2022). Irene studied in the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. She obtained a Bachelor degree on recorder with Erik Bosgraaf in 2018. She is currently studying a master in historical singing with Xenia Meijer at the same institution.

irenesorozabal.com/

Camille Verhaak ~ Clarinet

Clarinettist, maker, performer in interdisciplinary productions and of new music ensembles, teacher.

Where the Sounds Are @ Encuentros

Geerte de Koe ~ Violin

I am a Dutch violinist and workshop leader with a special interest in cross-arts and improvisation. I collaborate and create new work with dancers, electronic musicians, visual artists, actors, and a variety of musicians with different musical backgrounds from all over the world. To share my passion for music and composition with others, I work as a workshop leader with a wide range of communities.
www.geertedekoe.com/

Jonathan Nagel ~ Double-bass

Jonathan Nagel’s artistry is kindled by a craving to
convey emotions and tell stories. Continuously
they seek to abandon borders between genres,
striving to merely rely on whatever means it takes
to create a certain image or feeling. In an implied
juxtaposition of traditional and contemporary art
forms, their work portraits socioeconomic and
mental states of our times. Their artistic practice
includes music, poetry, improvisation, physical
theater, performance art, and dance.

Formerly trained as a classical and jazz contrabass player, they have been questioning art education for years during their studies at Universität der Künste (Berlin, DE), Rytmisk Musik- konservatorium (Copenhagen, DK), University of

the Arts (Philadelphia, USA), Prins Claus Conservatorium (Groningen, NL). Eventually they graduated as Master of Music from the European Jazz Master program at Conservatorium van Amsterdam (Amsterdam, NL) in 2018. They have worked with internationally esteemed performing artists such as Katie Duck, Sharon Smith, Michael Moore, Axel Dörner, Tristan Honsinger, Simon
Rose, Vincent von Schlippenbach, Richard Scott,
and many others. Currently they live and work in
Amsterdam and Berlin.

Throughout the past years they have recorded and released several music albums with jazz and experimental music groups and have performed round about 80 public shows per year with bands and theater groups on stages in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, Greece, Poland, Romania, Denmark, Finland and Norway. In 2021 they took on the adventure to produce their first
own stage show, 'eventually'. The music for 'eventually' has been released as their first solo
album in the summer of 2022.
www.jonathannagel.de

Noortje Kohna ~ Viola
https://www.forwardandup.nl/

Manuela Tessi ~ Choreographer

Born in Milano, Italy, I live in the Netherlands since 1999. I graduated from the Theaterschool in Amsterdam (Modern Theatre Dance department) and have spent the last several years creating, performing and teaching.
In my movement research I have an interest in movement prior to dance as a formal language, I believe that content and functionality provide form. I look for sensuosness and embodiment in dance, often referring to kinesthetic empathy, how is the movement being read by the spectator not solely with the eyes and intellect, but perceived on a visceral level.
Live music plays an important role in my performance work. What drives me in the work is the desire to deeply understand the relation of musicality of movement and sound.
Since 2004 I have studied and worked with Katie Duck, who has been one of my greatest creative influences alongside the many dancers and musicians who have collaborated with her.
Some of the most recent projects include Unfolding , a duet with musician Vilbjørg Broch, a choreography for Ikaros , a piece by composer Aspasia Nasopoulou for November Music Festival 2018, All at Once, a quartet with dancers Thalia Laric , Kristina Johnstone and pianist Coila-Leah Enderstein, two solo works created in collaboration with Vincent Cacialano and Paul Estabrook, The Loom, a Berlin quartet with flutist Friederike Wendorf, dancer Mata Sakka and pianist Rieko Okuda, Dutch based duo El Otro with guitarist Arvind Ganga. In 2015 I created The Weight of Words , a performance installation that investigated the relationship between figure, movement and projected text. I have been working as a dancer with Makiko Ito in her project Wonderland since 2006, a series of performances of music and dance for children and family. At the moment I am working on the Shell, a solo to be presented in May 2020 in Cape Town, South Africa.