We are excited to welcome five new members to The ILK-Collective: Matt Choboter, Margaux Oswald, Calum Builder, Julie Kjær, and Sarah Buchner.
With a focus on collaboration and experimentation, ILK has long been a home for innovative musicians who are dedicated to exploring the outer edges of jazz, experimental, improv, and contemporary music. The addition of these new members will only further expand ILK's already roster of talent, bringing fresh perspectives and diverse voices to the collective's ongoing creative pursuits. We can't wait to see what the future brings!
Matt Choboter:
Multi-award-winning Canadian composer/pianist, Matt Choboter has recorded/performed with international artists like Lotte Anker, Peter Bruun, Trichy Sankaran, Brad Turner, François Houle, Simon Toldam, and Maria Faust. Choboter has released four studio albums: “Hypnagogia” on ILK Music and the sister project “Hypnopompia” for Songlines Recordings. The latter recently made “Best Jazz on Bandcamp” for the month of July 2022. Based in Copenhagen, Matt recently finished his Advanced Post Diploma in Composition and research at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory. Additionally, Choboter will be publishing his fifth studio album on ILK in June this year – so stay tuned!
Margaux Oswald:
Margaux Oswald is a pianist of French-Filipina origin, born in Geneva, and currently based in Copenhagen. Margaux has played the piano since age 5 and is now committed to the art of free improvisation. Her album Dysphotic Zone released on Clean Feed Records was chosen as one of the best solo albums of 2022 by the New York City Jazz Record and was chosen as the top 10 international albums of the year by Jazz.pt. Aside from Oswald’s solo projects, she has (and still is) collaborated with international artists such as Kasper Tranberg, Jesper Zeuthen, Sture Ericson, Håkon Berre, Frank Gratkowski, Christian Weber, and Michael Griener.
Calum Builder:
The musical workings of Australian Saxophonist/Composer Calum Builder immerse themselves in ethereal waves of sound that wash afresh over the listener. He is engaged in a wide range of projects from performing solo with saxophone and pipe organ to leading one of his large eclectic orchestras. Builder moved to Copenhagen a few years ago and finished the Solist at RMC last year. Builder’s music surrounds itself with themes of mysticism and spirituality. He often incorporates musicians who stem not only from the jazz and improvised music world but also from the classical side and are often members of regional orchestras/ensembles.
Julie Kjær:
Danish Julie kjær has become increasingly evident around Europe, inhabiting the ground between composition and free improv. Experimenting with extended techniques, sound, and rhythm Kjær pushes her instruments to their limits. Julie Kjær has toured internationally and recorded with Django Bates and StoRMChaser. Currently one of her main focuses is her trio, Julie Kjær 3, with bass player John Edwards and drummer Steve Noble. Kjær tours internationally with Norwegian drummer Paal Nilssen-Love and his Large Unit. She also plays with London Improvisers Orchestra and is a leader and side woman of several other English and Danish ensembles. In the autumn of 2017, she was commissioned to compose a piece for the prestigious Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. A co-commission with the Danish Festival G((o))ng Tomorrow. She has also been a featured composer by the British Music Collection (2014).
Sarah Buchner:
German Sarah Buchner is an experimental vocalist based in Copenhagen. Her solo work is a sonic fragmentation of human expression. She generates her sound by exploring acoustic spheres past common singing techniques, as well as de-contextualizing sounds of daily non-verbal communication - building a sonic monologue from sparse punctualism to multi-layered sound. Her playful, yet destructive approach to aesthetic expectations towards vocals, is a result of artistic self-radicalization and joy. Occasionally she uses various flutes and objects as extensions of her resonance body. Buchner released her first solo EP called ‘temporary exile’ in 2020, and later collaborated with contextual artist Anabela Veloso as part of the Spaces-in-between exhibition at Copenhagen's Thorvaldsen Museum, and later in 2022 with Michaela Turcerová as Artists in Residence at Künslterstadt Kalbe.
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Photo credits:
Julie Kjær by Dawid Laskowski
Sarah Buchner by Luise Anna Heinig
Margaux Oswald by J. Makongo