N-Collective is an international network of musicians and composers consisting of a conglomerate of groups and ensembles from different countries (Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, America, Switzerland and Germany).
They develop, support and promote adventurous music of different genres such as improvisation, electronica, jazz, noise and contemporary music.

The concert Music Performs is the result of a two-week residency: it showcases three responses of young composers/musicians to the challenge of making the theatrical and performative aspects of a concert situation fully part of their music. The pieces are situated in the grey area between music and performance – and develop into new forms of expression according to a distinct individual pattern.

Petros Ovsepyan – I, II, III (1999-2000)
I-II-III is a trilogy for piccolo/flute/bass flute, clarinet/bass clarinet, piano, violin, viola and cello. The work is based on sound compression, or, in other words, sound trapped in the performer’s body, and thereby compressed. Timing is crucial in this work, as the basic structure of the piece is formed by the exchange between anticipation and memory, which requires an active (even interactive) attitude from the listener. Played sounds are processed and developed internally and during long silences.

David Helbich – Haltungsschaden (2005/07)
Haltungsschaden was written for the Ensemble Maulwerker and was performed at the TESLA-Kubus in Berlin in October 2005.
David Helbich composes movements and gestures that unmistakably suggest musical experience. Three performers move, snap their fingers, clap their hands, use sign language – and occasionally make sound. Sometimes the movements evoke meaning, sometimes they remain mere formal structure.

TAPE THAT – Mozart Takes (1788/2007 – premiere)
Mozart Takes starts from the recording of a live performance of a string trio playing Mozart. The recording is manipulated and remixed on the spot by turning microphones on and off, carrying them around in the concert hall, covering them with hands and other body cavities, and recording other objects or people inside and outside the concert hall. In the second part of the piece, TAPE THAT reconstructs the concert experience by manipulating and distorting the recorded material and its remix in yet other ways.
The audience experiences both moments (the concert and TAPE THAT’s actions) from different perspectives and levels of perception. What was visible is now heard, and what was audible is now re-listened to via the recording material and placed in a different context.
Is it live, or is it TAPE THAT?