Concert
Markus Stockhausen and Fulcrum Point New Music Project

Intuitive Music: A Collaborative Expression of Meeting & Unity through Improvisation

Fri, 06/01/2018
7:00 PM The Promontory

A Collaborative Expression of Healing & Unity Through Improvisation with a unique gathering of master musicians:

Special Guest Artists: David Murray & Markus Stockhausen, Florian Weber & Kahil El’ Zabar


Fulcrum Point presents an unprecedented gathering of 10 globally renowned musicians for a celebratory performance of improvisational “intuitive” music. Internationally acclaimed conductor and Fulcrum Point Founder Stephen Burns creates an event that transcends social and cultural limitations through international collaboration. Featured in  this impressive lineup will be celebrated jazz saxophonist and legendary improviser David Murray, led by esteemed conduction masters Markus Stockhausen and experimental jazz icon Kahil El’Zabar.

With artists hailing from Europe to the U.S., this profound and playful ensemble of musical visionaries, from seemingly divergent backgrounds, aims to exemplify the power of the arts to unify and inspire.Stockhausen, celebrated German composer and trumpeter, will play alongside his longtime collaborator, jazz pianist Florian Weber, together forming the acclaimed improvisation duo “Inside Out.” Additional guest artists include jazz trombonist Andy Baker, Latin violinist James Sanders, percussionist Ian Ding, and bassist Luke Stewart. 

Markus Stockhausen is one of the most versatile musicians of our time. As a trumpet soloist, improviser and composer he is as much at home in jazz as in contemporary and classical music. For about 25 years he collaborated closely with his father, the composer Karlheinz Stockhausen. As a trumpeter he performs on the international stage and he has composed among others for the 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic, the London Sinfonietta, the Metropole Orkest, the Swiss jazz Orchestra and the Camerata Bern, the Hamburger Symphoniker and for the Norddeutsche Philharmonische Akkordeonorchester. In 2005 he was awarded the WDR-Jazz Prize as the best improviser. He gives courses on “Intuitive Music and More” and for the last ten years he has been giving seminars on “Singing and Silence.” He is particularly interested in “Transformation through Sound.”

Kahil El’Zabar is an international percussion master who has collaborated with Jazz legends Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, Dizzy Gillespie, Lester Bowie, Cannonball Adderley, and recipients of the 2016 NEA Jazz Masters award, Pharoah Sanders and Archie Shepp. His illustrious career has included film scores for the movies “Mo’ Money” and “How U Like Me Now,” as well as early arrangements for Broadway show “The Lion King.” El'Zabar is a true "Renaissance Man," with a musical style and content that flows from ancient Africa to the modern world. 

Award-winning German jazz pianist, Florian Weber is well known for his talent as an improviser and technical virtuosity. He has won numerous awards including the WDR Jazz Prize for "Jazz Improvisation", the Echo Jazz award for piano instrumentation, the Steinway & Sons prize at the Montreaux Jazz Festival Solo Piano Competition, the Gotrian Steinweg prize of Weimar, and the Jazz competition Monaco. Today Florian lives in Cologne, Germany and part of the year in New York. Taking part in the lively New York scene led to his latest project, “Biosphere,” which was released September 2012. 

Stephen Burns has been acclaimed on four continents for his dramatic interpretations and imaginative musicianship as trumpeter, conductor, and educator. He has performed in the major concert halls of New York, Boston, Chicago, Washington D.C., St. Louis, Quebec, Tokyo, Paris and Venice. As Artistic Director of Fulcrum Point, Mr. Burns has changed Chicago’s musical landscape championing New Art Music influenced by popular culture, literature, film, social dynamics, improvisation, electronic and traditional music from around the world. He was founding president of New Music Chicago, a collaborative, non-profit organization of composers, performers and presenters from Chicago. 

Few musicians in jazz history have proven more vigorously productive and resourceful than David Murray. Now in his fifties, Murray has 130 albums to his name and contributions to around a hundred other recordings as a guest artist. As a tenor saxophonist, he has perfected an instantly recognizable approach to improvisation that even in its freest flights acknowledges the gravity of a tradition. Murray has altered the context for his improvisations as an infinite mosaic of musical challenges and explorations. As a worthy successor for some of the biggest names in jazz, he is now contributing to the rise of young talents.
 

Fulcrum Point
Created in 1998 by conductor, composer and trumpet virtuoso Stephen Burns, the mission of Fulcrum Point New Music Project pushes the boundaries of the musical experience globally by supporting new compositions, creating and performing transformative new music experiences, and educating audiences of all ages and backgrounds to imagine the possibilities of music. Fulcrum Point seeks to encourage audiences to make cross-cultural connections between new music, art, technology and literature, gaining greater insight into today’s diverse world.