DUO Maya Homburger/Barry Guy

MAYA HOMBURGER baroque violin

BARRY GUY double bass

Das Duo Homburger Guy beweist, dass Musik keine Beschränkungen kennt, vorausgesetzt, dass man bestimmte Genregrenzen respektiert: Der Gewinn liegt im klugen Kontrast, nicht im nivellierenden Einerlei. Neue Kompositionen, Improvisationen und barocke Meisterstücke fügen sich zu einem musikalischen Erlebnis.  (aus einer Kritik im Bund)

Maya Homburger und Barry Guy  gelingt der Brückenschlag zwischen Alter und Neuer Musik in einem Projekt, das die Werke von G.Ph.Telemann, H.I.F.Biber und Dario Castello mit den modernen Kompositionen und Improvisationen Barry Guys zusammenbringt, wobei die Gemeinsamkeiten von Alter und Neuer Musik (in der Kunst der Variation und Improvisation) und deren Unterschiede (in der Klangkonzeption, Harmonik und Rhythmik) virtuos in schöpferische Spannung versetzt werden.

MAYA HOMBURGER,  BAROCKVIOLINE
Gebürtige Schweizerin, studierte am Konservatorium Bern, wo sie mit dem Solistendiplom bei Eva Zurbrügg abschloss. Weiterbildung bei Ivan Galamian in USA und Eduard Melkus in Wien. Während acht Jahren war sie Mitglied der Camerata Bern, spezialisierte sich aber daneben mehr und mehr auf das Duo Repertoire für Barockvioline und Cembalo. Zusammen mit dem Cembalisten Andreas Erismann spielte sie für viele Festivals in Deutschland, Österreich, Italien und USA. Gesamt- aufführungen von J.S.Bach's sechs Sonaten für obligates Cembalo und Violine und die Rosenkranzsonaten von H.I.F.Biber sind ihre Spezialität.
1986 übersiedelte  Maya Homburger nach England, wo sie in zahlreichen sog. “period instruments”  Ensembles mitwirkte wie z.B. The Academy of Ancient Music, English Concert  und English Baroque Soloists.  Ab 1992 spezialisierte sie sich mehr und mehr auf Kammermusik und Solo Repertoire. 1993 spielte sie die 12 Fantasien für Violine von G.Ph.Telemann auf CD ein für ihr eigenes Label “MAYA Recordings”. 1995 nahm sie die sechs Sonaten für Cembalo und Violine von J.S.Bach auf mit dem Irischen Cembalisten Malcolm Proud. 1994 schrieb der Englische Komponist Buxton Orr ein Duo für Barockvioline und Kontrabass für Maya Homburger und Barry Guy,  weitere Werke für diese Besetzung wurden von Giles Swayne und Roger Marsh  komponiert.  1995 beginnt eine Serie von Konzerten, die neue Kompositionen und Improvisationen mit Solosonaten und Fantasien von Bach, Telemann und Biber verbinden. Von 1996 bis 2004 lebte sie in Irland zusammen mit dem Komponisten und Solobassisten Barry Guy, hat sich aber seit 2006 wieder in der Schweiz niedergelassen. Zusammen konzentrieren sie sich mehr und mehr auf Duo Konzerte (ihre erste Duo CD “Ceremony” erschien auf ECM, die neueste CD “Dakryon” mit guest artist Pierre Favre, percussion erschien auf dem MAYA label), Solo Konzerte sowohl im improvisierten Bereich als auch Barock und das Management ihres CD labels und zahlreicher FreeJazz Formationen.
In 2000 war Maya Homburger Konzertmeisterin und Solistin für John Eliot Gardiner's Bach Kantaten Projekt und spielte 52 Kantaten in den schönsten Kathedralen und Kirchen Europas.

Maya Homburger spielt auf einer italienischen Geige von Antonio dalla Costa, Treviso 1740,  die sich im barocken Originalzustand befindet.

Barry Guy, geboren 1947 in London, zählt zu den innovativsten Kontrabassspielern und Komponisten. Durch seine kreative Vielfältigkeit und mit seiner Begeisterung für das Experimentelle wurde Barry Guy zu einem wesentlichen Neuerer der Improvisierten Musik. Seine Suche nach dem Ideal der musikalischen Kommunikation liess ihn 1970 zum Gründer des berühmten London Jazz Composers Orchestra  (LJCO) werden, für das er auch einen Grossteil der Kompositionen schreibt. Sein profundes und innovatives Schaffen spiegelt sich in einer aussergewöhnlichen Serie von Kompositionen für Kammermusikensembles und grosses Orchester. Als Solist hat Barry Guy die Technik für das Kontrabassspiel radikal erweitert und neue Massstäbe gesetzt. Musiker wie Evan Parker, Barre Phillips, Irène Schweizer, Marilyn Crispell, Mats Gustafsson und viele andere schätzen ihn als langjährigen Partner in den unterschiedlichsten Formationen und Projekten. 1999 war er "Composer in Residence" in München, 2001 in Halifax (Kanada)  und 2003 im Davos Festival wo er einige seiner Werke und eine Auftragskomposition aufführte. Seine Karriere begann Barry Guy aber als Kontrabassist der renommierten "Academy of Ancient Music", in der er 12 Jahre Mitglied war. Er ist heute noch einer der gesuchtesten Spezialisten für barockes Kontrabassspiel. So erstaunt es nicht, dass Barry Guy sehr an der Verbindung dieser beiden Musikarten, zwischen denen er starke Affinitäten sieht, interessiert ist.

Neben der Improvisation nimmt für Barry Guy aber auch die Komposition einen breiten Raum ein. Ausser den grossangelegten Orchesterwerken für das London Jazz Composers Orchestra und das “Barry Guy New Orchestra” (BGNO) - komponierte er unter anderem für das City of London Sinfonia Orchester “After the Rain” (1992) und Concerto for Orchestra - “Fallingwater” uraufgeführt in London im Oktober 1996, für das Hilliard Ensemble “Coup de Dés” (aufgenommen auf CD für ECM), für Fretwork “Buzz” ,für das Cello Ensemble der Academy of St.Martin in the Field “Look Up”., für Thomas und Patrik Demenga “Redshift” (ebenfalls auf ECM) und  “Folio” für Streichorchester und Solisten,  das Ende 2005 mit dem Münchner Kammerorchester unter der Leitung von Christoph Poppen auf ECM erschienen ist.



Maya Homburger

Born and educated in Zurich, Switzerland, Maya Homburger moved to England in 1986 to join John Eliot Gardiner’s English Baroque Soloists, Trevor Pinnock’s The English Concert and other period instrument groups. Concerts and Recordings as leader of the Chandos Baroque Players and founding her own Trio Virtuoso led her to specialise more and more in chamber music and solo performance. In 1993 she recorded the twelve fantasies for solo violin by G.Ph.Telemann and in 1995 the six sonatas for violin and harpsichord by J.S. Bach together with Malcolm Proud.

Ever since meeting the composer and solo bassist Barry Guy - on the occasion of an extended concert tour with Christopher Hogwood’s Academy of Ancient Music in 1988 - she has devoted her time developing her own personal style on the baroque violin as well as managing the Barry Guy New Orchestra, the London Jazz Composers Orchestra and running her own CD label MAYA recordings.

The idea to perform baroque solo works in the context of free improvised music and newly commissioned pieces sparked off the Homburger/Guy Duo and together Maya Homburger and Barry Guy have  given concerts in many major Jazz, New Music and Baroque Music Festivals all over Europe. 
New works in her repertoire include Barry Guy’s compositions Celebration, Inachis, Aglais and Lysandra  for solo violin, Ceremony  for violin and tape, Bubblets for violin and harpsichord and compositions for baroque violin and double bass, especially commissioned for the Homburger/Guy Duo from Buxton Orr, Roger Marsh and Giles Swayne.

After living in Ireland for nine years where they contributed both to the early as well as the contemporary music scene, they have moved to Switzerland in 2006.

In 1999 Maya Homburger organised her own music Series in Dublin called “Now and Then”. In 2000 she was one of the leaders and soloists for J.E. Gardiner’s Bach pilgrimage which took her to many of Europe’s most beautiful cathedrals and churches where she performed in 52 Bach Cantatas.

Recordings include the Duo CDs “Ceremony” (ECM) and “Dakryon” (Maya Recordings), Bach/Guy solo works (Maya Recs.) and “Folio” (ECM) where she appears as violin soloist together with the Munich Chamber Orchestra.

Barry Guy, born in London 22. April 1947

Barry Guy is an innovative bass player and composer whose creative diversity in the fields of jazz improvisation, chamber and orchestral performance and solo recitals is the outcome both of an unusually varied training and a zest for experimentation, underpinned by a dedication to the double bass and the ideal of musical communication.

He is founder and Artistic Director of the London Jazz Composers Orchestra and the BGNO (Barry Guy New Orchestra) for which he has written several extended works. His concert works for chamber orchestras, chamber groups and soloists have been widely performed and his skilful and inventive writing has resulted in an exceptional series of compositions.

Barry Guy continues to give solo recitals throughout Europe as well as continuing associations with colleagues involved in improvised, baroque and contemporary music. His current regular ensembles are the Homburger/Guy duo, the Parker/Guy duo, piano trios with Marilyn Crispell and Paul Lytton, Jaques Demierre and Lucas Niggli and a recently formed trio with Agusti Fernandez and Ramon Lopez. He continues the longstanding trio with Evan Parker and Paul Lytton as well as projects with Mats Gustafsson.

Barry Guy is an innovative double bass player and composer whose creative diversity in the fields of Jazz improvisation, solo recitals, chamber and orchestral performance is the outcome both of an unusually varied training and a zest for experimentation, underpinned by a dedication to the double bass and the ideal of musical communication.

Between the early Seventies and mid Nineties Barry Guy held principal bass position in various orchestras including The Orchestra of St.John’s Smith Square, City of London Sinfonia, Monteverdi Orchestra, The Academy of Ancient Music, Kent Opera and The London Classical Players. During these years he was also active in the European Improvised Scene.

He is founder and Artistic Director of the London Jazz Composers Orchestra for which he has written several extended works with recordings of the following: Ode (Incus 1972 and re-released on Intakt 1996), Stringer (FMP 1980), Polyhymnia on ZURICH CONCERTS (Intakt 1988), Harmos (Intakt 1989), Double Trouble (Intakt 1990), Theoria (Intakt 1992) with the Swiss pianist Irène Schweizer as soloist, Portraits (Intakt 1994) and Three Pieces for Orchestra (Intakt 1997) and Radio Rondo (Intakt 2009).

His concert works have been widely performed and his skilful and inventive writing has resulted in an exceptional series of compositions: Flagwalk (1983), The Eye of Silence (1988), Look Up! (1990), After the Rain (1992), Bird Gong Game (1992), Fallingwater (1996), Redshift (1998), Remembered Earth (1999), Nasca Lines (2001), Folio (2002) and  Anaklasis (2003), The Butterfly Series (2002/4), Convergence (2006), Horizontal Blue (2008), Tales of Enchantment (2010) , FFF (2010)  a.o.   

Look Up! was honoured with the Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Chamber-Scale Composition 1991–1992. Guy's compositions usually reflect a personal liaison with musicians and ensembles he writes for. As such, the commissions arrive from chamber orchestras, chamber groups and soloists interested in contemporary musical performance with a special commitment to communicate with the audience. Guy's works therefore have a sense of freshness without recourse to ideological excesses or scores that baffle players to the extent that performing becomes a trial.

The scores however are virtuosic and often present innovative sonorities and extended instrumental techniques and as a performer himself he is ideally placed to assess these possibilities.

Barry Guy continues to give solo recitals throughout Europe as well as continuing associations with colleagues involved in improvised, baroque and contemporary music. His current regular ensembles are the Homburger/Guy duo, the Parker/Guy duo, piano trios with Marilyn Crispell and Paul Lytton, Jaques Demierre and Lucas Niggli and a recently formed trio with Agusti Fernandez and Ramon Lopez. He continues the longstanding trio with Evan Parker and Paul Lytton as well as projects with Mats Gustafsson.

The Barry Guy New Orchestra (BGNO), formed in 2000, features in festivals as a project ensemble, and Barry Guy as a director/composer is  often invited to work with large ensembles using his own extensive library of composed works or to give lectures and workshops on his various graphic scores.  BGNO’s first album Inscape-Tableaux was a recipient of the 2001 Choc de l’Année award in France. And his second composition Oort-Entropy  for the BGNO also received the same award in the following year.

Late 2005 saw him working with the ICI Munich orchestra and the Glasgow Improviser’s orchestra.

In 2006 he was featured composer at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (UK).

After living in Ireland for nine years, he and his wife Maya Homburger moved to Switzerland in 2006 where they continue to run their CD Label MAYA Recordings and contribute to the New, Improvised and Early Music Scene as well as touring with a variety of musical projects all over Europe.

Selection of programmes

MAYA HOMBURGER (baroque violin)

BARRY GUY (bass)

MAYA HOMBURGER (baroque violin)

BARRY GUY (bass)

Other possible combinations with the new tape and violin/bass piece:

H.I.F. Biber (1644–1704)		1. movement "The Annunciation" from the Mystery Sonatas (c.3')
Barry Guy		"Interlude" Improvisation for solo bass (c.3')
J.S. Bach		Adagio from Sonata No.1 g-minor (c.4')
Barry Guy		"Immeasurable Sky" 4 songs for baroque violin and double bass (c.12') "Dakryon" for bass, violin and tape (c.10') "Still" Improvisation for solo bass (5') "Ceremony" for baroque violin and tape (17')
2)
H.I.F. Biber (1644–1704)		1. movement "The Annunciation" from the Mystery Sonatas (c.3')
Barry Guy		"Immeasurable Sky" 4 songs for baroque violin and double bass (c.12')
H.I.F. Biber		Passacaglia for solo violin (c. 10')
Barry Guy		"Dakryon" for bass, violin and tape (c.10') "Five Pieces" Improvisation for solo bass (c.7') "Breathing Earth" for baroque violin and bass (c.6') or "Celebration" for violin and bass (c.6')
3)
H.I.F. Biber (1644–1704)		1. movement "The Annunciation" from the Mystery Sonatas (c.3')
Barry Guy		"Immeasurable Sky" 4 songs for baroque violin and double bass (c.12') "Dakryon" for bass, violin and tape (c.10') "Still" Improvisation for solo bass (5') "Ceremony" for baroque violin and tape (17')