Katharina Ernst at Madeiradig

Born 1987 in Vienna, Katharina Ernst is a fine arts/painting graduate. She started playing the drums at age nine. Her artistic practice is richly varied, taking in various forms of performance, choreography, and visual art along the way. She’s performed and exhibited in a massive array of countries and spaces. Previous musical collaborations include the likes of Ken Vandermark, Peter Kutin, dieb13, Christina Kubisch, Martin Siewert.

Ernst unites abstract composition and polyrhythmic solo performance on her absorbing debut solo album, Extrametric. The basis of the recording initially comprised drum exercises requiring deep concentration to propel separated elements forward into richly patterned grooves. Extrametric is the result of a long-lasting process of personal focus – the oldest rhythm on the record dates back a full 7 years – Katharina having dedicatedly refined her practice to focus on unusual structures and polymetric beats. The resultant performances reveal hitherto unexplored rhythmic layers. Tellingly, the artist refers to these pieces as études – musical ‘studies’ – describing the album as based more around a concept than any musical genre.

Presented by CTM Festival

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