Our electro-acoustic chamber ensemble Ephemeral Fragments—consisting of Florian Walter on Tubax contrabass saxophone, Emily Wittbrodt on cello, and Korhan Erel on synths and electronics—will start 2026 with a three-concert tour in Switzerland and Austria.

Since 2025 we’ve been glad to be supported by the state of North-Rhine Westphalia as part of its funds for Ensemble Development. Last year we’ve been using these resources to invite outside ears to our rehearsals, for individual feedback and external stylistic stimulus. There have been encounters with the contemporary composer Oxana Omelchuk from Cologne and German music legend Gudrun Gut. While rooted in totally different directions of music, we’ve been thrilled and humbled by both their openness and perspectives upon our music.

Our upcoming concerts will be a showcase of new directions and ideas, which are based more on structured improvisation and compositional elements rather than free improvisation.

The approach encompasses musical modules that we use to shape our music. Each module contains descriptions of gestures, textures, motifs, and other musical components. They do not imply an obligatory order, but we decide on a site-specific dramaturgy for each concert.

Our first concert is on February 15th at Mullbau in Luzern, Switzerland. The other band of the evening is a meeting of Trio SBJ, consisting of Brian Archinal on synthesizer and electronics, Joao Carlos Pacheco on drums and electronics, Silke Strahl on saxophone, and legendary bassist Barry Guy.

Second concert is on February 17th at The Institute in Zürich, where we will propose soundtracks to a collection of silent films:

The Exquisite Thief
Tod Browning (US 1919)

Vicenta
Musidora (FR 1920)

Chôkon
Daisuke Itô (JP 1926)

The tour will end with a concert at Interpenetration in Graz on February 19th, where we’ll share the bill with Gloria Damijan, who will perform a solo set on toy piano, percussion, and objects.

///

Later in March, on the 14th, we will also perform at the Naxos Hallenkonzerte series in Frankfurt in collaboration with Oxana Omelchuk, who was one of the outside ears mentoring us. Oxana Omelchuk will play a theremin and a Lyra-8.

The program will consist of both trio and solo sets, as well as smaller constellations blended into a larger performance concept.

///

We’ll keep posting updates about current developments at irregular intervals from now on. Our next larger step will be the recording of our second full-length album in early May, so you might expect some updates around that time. Until then, please feel free to follow us on Instagram (yes, we’ve got a band account now) or on our individual socials. You can also subscribe to your irregular newsletter at this link: https://mailchi.mp/21b64c80e7a3/ephemeral-fragments-newsletter