KERSTIN PETERSEN

The Duo A&O 

Eva Zöllner and Kerstin Petersen have been performing as Duo A&O since 2009. In concert halls and churches they present the expressive, multi-coloured sound possibilities of their instruments and constantly initiate new compositions for their unique instrumentation. Their contemporary repertoire is impressive and diverse, allowing the two instruments to merge into one gigantic wind instrument.

In their concert ROOTS & CHANGES Duo A&O presents improvisations with accordion and hyper organ and compositions by Ruta Paidere, Oxana Omelchuk and Knut Müller, which were composed for the duo in recent years. The music is inspired by themes from Gabrieli and Mendelssohn Bartholdy "Lieder ohne Worte” - finely interwoven with jazz elements. “Sonata” by Thomas Beimel sounds in conjunction with the Molzer organ. This silent work consists of subtle gestures and overlays - inviting contemplative listening. In a contrasting, very powerful way the composition “und endlich der tanz” [and finally the dance] by Ruta Paidere reflects archaic Latvian musical traditions. 

References: Akkordeon Akut Festival Halle, Hochschule für Kirchenmusik Herford und Leipzig, Sächsischer Musikbund, Symposium Kirchenmusik & Orgelakademie Stade, Festival Orfeo / Organeum, Orgelstadt Hamburg, Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, Festival blurred edges, TONALi, forumJETZTmusik, Internationale Orgelakademie Göteborg, Kultursommer Rheinland-Pfalz, BRANDNEU europäisches Festival für neueste Orgelmusik 2022 in St. Martin Kassel, Orgelpark Amsterdam a.o.

Eva Zöllner, one of the most active accordionists of her generation, is dedicated to contemporary music. As internationally acclaimed soloist she appears in projects ranging from experimental solo performances to concerts with renowned ensembles all around the world. She has premiered more than 250 new works for her instrument. www.eva-zoellner.de 

Organ soloist Kerstin Petersen performs internationally and offers innovative facets and playing techniques of the queen of instruments to the audience. Her main focus lies on new organ solo and chamber music, for which she collaborates closely with composers from all over the world.
www.kerstin-petersen.org

Program example: ROOTS & CHANGES presented in Orgelpark Amsterdam 2023:

• Improvisation 

• Oxana Omelchuk (*1975) ...die Bäume wachsen in den Himmel nicht… (2009) for accordion and organ commissioned by the Duo A&O for the Mendelssohn anniversary 

• Improvisation 

• Ruta Paidere (*1977) und endlich der tanz (2019/2021) for accordion an organ 1. Unablässig, wie ein Drehtanz  2. sehr rhythmisch, grob 3. elegant, mechanisch. quasi ein alter Hoftanz dedicated to the Duo A&O soundcloud „und endlich der Tanz“

• Thomas Beimel (1967-2016) Sonata communio (2007) for accordion and organpositiv

• Improvisation 

• Knut Müller (*1963) NiN-LiL (2011) for accordion an organ inspired by Giovanni Gabrieli, Canzon Sol Sol La Sol Fa Mi a 8 - dedicated to the Duo A&O soundcloud "NiN-LiL“

📧 Further information, e.g. programme examples from J. S. Bach to Lina Tonia, can be sent to you - please feel very free to contact Kerstin Petersen by e-mail (see CONTACT). Booking enquiries can also be made via this e-path.

See also REPERTOIRE DOWNLOAD

The Hamburg Artists Ada Namani and Kerstin Petersen started working together as the duo Organ meets Gong in 2013. Their music brings together pipe organ and gong, both instruments that originate from ancient Eastern and Western traditions. 

From powerful to quiet, sometimes melted, sometimes individual, the organ, gong, singing bowls and monochord complement each other to create a special kind of sound experience. These sounds get under your skin, uplift and resonate for a long time…

With meditative, classical and trance-like sounds, they transport the concert audience into a meditation of sound waves. Since 2022, they have also been presenting the gong for the first time in combination with contemporary organ music composed especially for their duo line-up.

The duo Organ meets Gong has been engaged by, among others, the Hauptkirche St. Petri Hamburg, Stiftskirche Kloster Loccum, St. Clemens Nebel / Amrum, Kirche der Stille Hamburg, Kulturkirche Köln, Altmünsterkirche Mainz, Kloster Hünfeld, Christinae Kyrka Göteborg SE, Oude Helenakerk Aalten and Orgelpark Amsterdam NL.

Ada Namani * Devinderjit (gong) leads gong trances, festivals and concerts and is a trainer for white sound gong meditation. For more than 20 years she has been working with sound instruments for deep meditation. Ada Namani also uses sound instruments therapeutically as a practitioner for psychotherapy. www.adanamani.de

Kerstin Petersen (organ) is a freelance concert organist. Her repertoire covers all eras and styles, including contemporary music. She performs as a soloist in churches and concert halls throughout Europe. She explores new facets and playing styles of the "queen of instruments", particularly in collaboration with composers of new music. www.kerstin-petersen.org

📧Further programme examples from the Middle Ages to contemporary music can be sent to you - please feel very free to contact Kerstin Petersen by e-mail (see CONTACT) - also for CD and booking enquiries.

See also REPERTOIRE DOWNLOAD 

Duo DRUMS & PIPES: Kerstin Petersen performs internationally as an organ soloist and is a source of ideas for innovative organ projects. Lin Chen's familiarity with the Chinese drum, marimba, log drum, singing bowls, gongs and Western ballet allows the rhythms of East and West to merge naturally. 

A special focus is on repertoire by female composers, newly written for the ensemble, e.g. as part of their ensemble sponsorship by Musikfonds e.V.. The duo also performs rediscovered, rarely performed works.

DRUMS & PIPES likes combining performance, literature and new media in its concert programmes. As part of the Ensemble Scholarship of the Music Fund of the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, several innovative compositions for percussion and organ have recently been created in co-creation with Ruth Wiesenfeld (Berlin) and Alyssa Aska (Graz). Rikako Watanabe (Tokyo / Paris) dedicated her work “Mikoshi” to Duo DRUMS & PIPES, which is inspired by the traditional music of her home country Japan. DRUMS & PIPES gave the world premiere on 16 June 2023 in the Dresden Frauenkirche in collaboration with the Staatsschauspiel Dresden.

In 2023, Duo DRUMS & PIPES also performed the experimental programme "Mikoshi boiling away" in Hamburg, invited by the blurred edges festival for contemporary music and in the main programme of the festival Altonale. In 2024, the duo is engaged by the Philharmonie Mercatorhalle Duisburg for the concert "Toccata 1", among others, as well as with the event "Das Signal" in collaboration with Ada Namani (Gong) by Orgelpark Amsterdam NL, where also their first album with label genuin is in preparation.

Program example: 

DANCE OF THE DAWN - colourful soundscapes for Chinese drums, marimba and 2000 pipes 

Duo DRUMS & PIPES - Lin Chen (percussion) and Kerstin Petersen (organ) 

• William Albright (1944 -1998) Fanfare / Echo for Organ solo [Organ Book Ill]

• Alyssa Aska (*1985) aufstieg.entspannung (2021) for percussion and organ dedicated to Duo Drums & Pipes

YouTube »aufstieg.entspannung« Duo DRUMS & PIPES

• William Albright (1944 -1998) Nocturne for Organ solo [Organ Book Ill]

• Leander Kaiser (*1961) Black Sphinx for marimba solo

• Improvisation percussion and organ

• Rikako Watanabe (*1964) Racines du vent / Wind Roots (2024) pour orgue et percussion: L'arbre sacré (The Sacred Tree), Et la Pluie pénètre la Terre (And the Rain Penetrates the Earth) and Danse de l'aube (Dance of the Dawn) Commissioned by Radio France premiere 04 April 2024

• Charles Hoag (1931-2018) The Kraken (2000) for Organ Pedals and Large Tam-Tam after the poem The Kraken (1830) by Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)

• Rikako Watanabe (*1964) Mikoshi (2023) pour orgue et percussion: 1. Prelude pour Matsuri, 2. Cortège de Mikoshi dedicated to Duo Drums & Pipes

About the programme DANCE OF THE DAWN / TANZ DER MORGENRÖTE:

The renowned Hamburg duo DRUMS & PIPES presents a "firework display" of European, American and Asian music. The percussionist Lin Chen and concert organist Kerstin Petersen use Chinese drums, marimba and 2,000 organ pipes to showcase the diversity of their instruments. 

The programme focuses on two works that were recently composed for Duo DRUMS & PIPES: "aufstieg.entspannung" by Alyssa Aska (Graz) - based on a spectral analysis of the gong - and "Mikoshi" by Rikako Watanabe (Paris) - inspired by the traditional Japanese music that is played during the procession of the summer Matsuri festivals. 

Mikoshi is a portable replica of a Shinto shrine that can weigh up to a tonne! To give the bearers of this heavy sacred object strength, the procession is accompanied by small Japanese drums (Taïko) and energising calls: "Wa-Shoï! Wa-Shoï!" In the second part of the composition, the rhythm "dotted 8th-16th notes" is reminiscent of these Japanese drums.

Another work by the Japanese-French composer Rikako Watanabe is "Racines du vent" (Wind Roots), which was commissioned by Radio France in 2024. The movements are: L'arbre sacré (The Sacred Tree), Et la Pluie pénètre la Terre (And the Rain Penetrates the Earth) and Danse de l'aube (Dance of the Dawn).

The two performers also appear as soloists: Kerstin Petersen plays "Nocturne" and "Fanfare" by the American composer William Albright. His fanfare combines medieval motifs with lively jazz motifs in the full work of the organ. The Nocturne features delicate atmospheric sound gestures reminiscent of moths hovering almost silently in the twilight.

Lin Chen interprets "Black Sphinx" by Leander Kaiser. Sphinxes (guardians) are considered dangerous magical creatures with a lion's body, a human head and, depending on their gender, feathered wings. The black sphinx is said to have extraordinary intelligence and characteristics; it likes to pose almost unsolvable riddles and can bring misfortune or good fortune.

Chicago-born composer Charles Hoag makes "The Kraken", the mythical sea monster, rise in virtuoso sounds for solo organ pedal and tam-tam. The work is based on the poem The Kraken (1830) by Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892). It begins with very low, barely audible frequencies and builds up to a thunderous frenzy in both instruments until the kraken sinks back into the abyssal sea...

A special highlight of the Duo DRUMS & PIPES programme is the improvisation, which naturally fuses the rhythms of East and West in the interplay between the percussion instruments and the majestic organ.

The artists: The percussionist Lin Chen performs with numerous ensembles and orchestras such as the International Mahler Orchestra in China, Japan, Hong Kong and the concert halls of major European cities. In Hamburg, she is celebrated as a performer at concerts organised by NDR, Opera Stabile's Black Box, the John Cage Festival and Klang Werk Tage. The exceptional artist has also performed in the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra's Stars of Tomorrow series at the Laeiszhalle under Muhai Tang. Lin Chen is currently performing as a soloist in Tan Dun's Water Concerto together with the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra at the Philharmonie Mercatorhalle Duisburg under Axel Kober and in numerous concerts at the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie. www.lin-chen-percussion.com 

The Organist Kerstin Petersen performs internationally as a soloist. Her focus is on organ music in unusual constellations, which she initiates and performs in collaboration with composers from all over the world. She has received concert invitations from the Hauptkirche St. Nikolai Hamburg, TONALi, frequenz_, Festival BRANDNEU, International Organ Academy Gothenburg, Orgelpark Amsterdam, among others. Kerstin Petersen is also active as an editor of new organ works and as an idea generator and artistic director of innovative concert projects, for example she realised Nur einmal glücklich sein - Orgelmusik von Komponistinnen. In 2024, she is involved as a performer at the opening concert of the Musik 21 Festival and as a juror for the composition competition. www.kerstin-petersen.org

📧Further programme examples from William Albright to the latest contemporary music can be sent to you - please feel very free to contact Kerstin Petersen by e-mail (see CONTACT).

Also see PDF in GERMAN with Posters