Anne La Berge
Encyclopedia
Anne La Berge is a flautist, composer and improviser, currently resident in Amsterdam
. Her most recent performances bring together the elements on which her reputation is based: a virtuosic command of her instrument, a penchant for improvising microtonal textures and melodies, and an array of percussive flute effects, all combined with electronic processing. These have distinguished her as “a pioneer in a wide array of new techniques”. Many of her compositions involve her own participation, though she has produced works intended solely for other performers, usually involving guided improvisation.The last few years have seen a new addition to her work: enigmatic texts that form part of her compositions and improvisations. In addition to creating her own work she regularly performs in other artists’ projects in a range of settings from modern chamber music to improvised electronic music.
While pursuing PhD research at the University of California, San Diego
in the mid 1980s she formed a duo with flutist John Fonville, commissioning new works and exploring extended techniques on flute, particularly with regard to microtonal scales. She moved to Amsterdam in 1989, where she has lived ever since.
In 1999, together Steve Heather and Cor Fuhler
, she founded Kraakgeluiden, a improvisation series based in Amsterdam, exploring combinations of acoustic instruments, electronic instruments and computers, and using real-time interactive performance systems. Many of the musical collaborations that have resulted have taken on a life beyond the Kraakgeluiden series, which ceased in 2006. La Berge’s own music has evolved in parallel, and the flute has become only one element in a sound world that includes computer samples, the use of spoken text and electronic processing.
In 2006 - 2007 she collaborated with Dr. David LaBerge
. This is a performance work based on Dr. La Berge's apical dendrite
theory using film, narrative voice samples and music.
She can be heard on the Largo, Artifact, Etcetera, Hat Art, Frog Peak, Einstein, X-OR, Unsounds, Canal Street, Rambo, esc.rec. and Data labels which include recordings as a soloist and with Ensemble Modern, United Noise Toys, Fonville/La Berge duo, Rasp/Hasp, Bievre/La Berge duo, Apricot My Lady and the Corkestra.
Anne La Berge has regularly received funding from the Dutch Funds for Composers, the Funds for the Amateur and Podium Arts and the Amsterdam Funds for the Arts. She is currently on the board of directors of the Women in Music Foundation and is the co-director, with her husband David Dramm, of the voLsap Foundation.
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
. Her most recent performances bring together the elements on which her reputation is based: a virtuosic command of her instrument, a penchant for improvising microtonal textures and melodies, and an array of percussive flute effects, all combined with electronic processing. These have distinguished her as “a pioneer in a wide array of new techniques”. Many of her compositions involve her own participation, though she has produced works intended solely for other performers, usually involving guided improvisation.The last few years have seen a new addition to her work: enigmatic texts that form part of her compositions and improvisations. In addition to creating her own work she regularly performs in other artists’ projects in a range of settings from modern chamber music to improvised electronic music.
While pursuing PhD research at the University of California, San Diego
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego, commonly known as UCSD or UC San Diego, is a public research university located in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States...
in the mid 1980s she formed a duo with flutist John Fonville, commissioning new works and exploring extended techniques on flute, particularly with regard to microtonal scales. She moved to Amsterdam in 1989, where she has lived ever since.
In 1999, together Steve Heather and Cor Fuhler
Cor Fuhler
Cor Fuhler is an Amsterdam-based musician who plays in the style of electroacoustic improvisation. His primary instrument is the piano . He explores the possibilities of the piano, manipulating it’s sound with use of various string stimulators like ebows, rotating threads and spinning disks...
, she founded Kraakgeluiden, a improvisation series based in Amsterdam, exploring combinations of acoustic instruments, electronic instruments and computers, and using real-time interactive performance systems. Many of the musical collaborations that have resulted have taken on a life beyond the Kraakgeluiden series, which ceased in 2006. La Berge’s own music has evolved in parallel, and the flute has become only one element in a sound world that includes computer samples, the use of spoken text and electronic processing.
In 2006 - 2007 she collaborated with Dr. David LaBerge
David LaBerge
David LaBerge is a neuropsychologist specializing in the attention process and the role of apical dendrites in cognition and consciousness.-Early life and education:David LaBerge was born in St...
. This is a performance work based on Dr. La Berge's apical dendrite
Apical dendrite
An apical dendrite is a dendrite that emerges from the apex of a pyramidal cell. Apical dendrites are one of two primary categories of dendrites, and they distinguish the pyramidal cells from spiny stellate cells in the cortices. Pyramidal cells are found in the prefrontal cortex, the hippocampus,...
theory using film, narrative voice samples and music.
She can be heard on the Largo, Artifact, Etcetera, Hat Art, Frog Peak, Einstein, X-OR, Unsounds, Canal Street, Rambo, esc.rec. and Data labels which include recordings as a soloist and with Ensemble Modern, United Noise Toys, Fonville/La Berge duo, Rasp/Hasp, Bievre/La Berge duo, Apricot My Lady and the Corkestra.
Anne La Berge has regularly received funding from the Dutch Funds for Composers, the Funds for the Amateur and Podium Arts and the Amsterdam Funds for the Arts. She is currently on the board of directors of the Women in Music Foundation and is the co-director, with her husband David Dramm, of the voLsap Foundation.
Discography (as composer)
- Newly Refurbished and Tussock Moth esc.rec., 2009. songs by Apricot My Lady including Adam and Jonathan Bohman and Lukas Simonis.
- rasp/hasp Ramboy #19, 2004. Improvisations with Jody Gilbert, Wilbert de Joode, Richard Barrett, Paul Lovens
- VerQuer Upala Records, 2004. Includes rough diamond.
- Radio WORM WORMrec, 2004.
- Kraakgeluiden, 2003. unsounds 06.
- Flute Moments with Theresa Beaman 1998. Laurel Records 857. Includes revamper.
- United Noise Toys live in Utrecht '98. X-OR, 1998. With Gert-Jan Prins. Features duct; yolk; nape; lurk; flap; juke; moat; pike; turf.
- Blow. Frog Peak Music, 1994. Features never again; rollin'; [sic]sauce; indeed; unengraced; revamper.
Further reading
- Gilmore, Bob. Interview with Anne La Berge. Paris Transatlantic Magazine, November 2005.
- Metzelaar, Helen. Women and 'Kraakgeluiden': the participation of women improvisers in the Dutch electronic music scene (2004) in Organised Sound, 2004, vol. 9, no. 2: 199-206.