Photograph copyright Margret Sommer.

Born 1952, Bern, Switzerland; acoustic and electric violin.

Hans Burgener began playing the violin when he was six and, after studying at the conservatory of Bern, he played in several classical orchestras, folk groups, rock groups and jazz-rock bands. In 1981 he co-founded the Werkstatt für Improvisierte Musik - WIM Bern - and since then has primarily been involved in improvised music.

Between 1986 and 1991 he worked with dancers such as Franca Horisberger, Eva Fuhrer, Susanne Müller - with whom he has continued to work as recently as 1995 - and exponents of the fine arts such as Ruedi Schwyn, Jürg Nigg, Moritz Bösiger, Res Flückiger and Urs Gehbauer. Change of shift from 1989 was an experimental meeting in the quarry of Krauchthal near Bern and involved 8 musicians, 1 dancer and 3 artists. Similarly, The snail - 5 traces in an industrial place was a piece for 3 musicians and 2 artists performed in 1991 and supported by the town and canton of Bern.

Particular groupings have included:

• a quartet from 1991 to 1993 with New York bass clarinet player Michael Lytle, cellist Martin Schütz, and trombonist Hans Anliker
• the string trio of Burgener/Phillips/Schütz with Barre Phillips and Martin Schütz founded in 1991, undertaken concerts all across Europe - including Vand'Oeuvre 1997 and Nickelsdorf 1998 - and currently still performing and recording
• member of the Hans Koch/Jacques Demierre project at the Taktlos festival 92 and the Jazz Festival in Munich in 1992
• working with the German violinist Stephan Poetzsch, including music moving between improvisation and composition for 2 violins in 1992/93 and working with the Essaka Poetzsch Dance company (Bettina Essaka, dance; Stephan Poetzsch, violin/viola) since 1996: at the Umbrella Dance Festival Johannesburg in 1996, and Saddler's Wells, London in 1998
• KI - energy of life a sound installation on the basics of Chinese philosophy for eight musicians (Hans Anliker, Hans Koch, Michael Lytle, Fredy Studer, Steve Noble, Barre Phillips, Martin Schütz), 1 dancer and 2 artists (1993)
• the Rieben/Burgener/Hofmann trio since 1993 with concerts in Switzerland, Paris and Konstanz
• member of the project Fifth season by Barre Phillips with Kazue Sawai, Tetsu Saitoh, Michel Doneda, Alain Joule, Martin Schütz and Barre Phillips (1994)
• the cultural exchange Bern-Moskau with Hans Koch, Margrit Rieben, Franz Aeschbacher, Giancarlo Nicolai, Alexander Kostikov and Andrew Solovjov with concerts in Moscow and Petersburg in 1996 and in Switzerland in 1997
• member of the double string trio at JazzHerbst Konstanz 96 with Joëlle Léandre, Martin Schütz, Harald Kimmig, Ralf Werner and Peter Kowald (1996)
• concerts with Richard Teitelbaum, in Japan in 1996 with, among others, Barre Phillips, and in Switzerland in 1997 with Günter Müller
• a quartet with Richard Teitelbaum, Günter Müller and Carlos Zingaro for a European tour in autumn 1998

Recordings

1992, 10 WIM Pern, UNIT UTR 4047 CD. Three short tracks on this compilation CD.

1992, Arnold bombs and fireflys, For 4 Ears CD409. Hans Anliker/Hans Burgener/Michael Lytle/Martin Schütz.

1992, Looking out our window, For 4 Ears CD515. Hans Burgener/Barre Phillips/Martin Schütz.

1994, Lilith, For 4 Ears CD617. Margrit Rieben/Hans Burgener/Ursula Hofmann.

1997, Shift, For 4 Ears CD928. Burgener/Teitelbaum/Müller.

1998, Heat transfer, For 4 Ears CD929. Hans Burgener/Barre Phillips/Martin Schütz.

1998, >11>ways>to>proceed, For 4 Ears CD1035. Burgener/Teitelbaum/Müller/Zingaro.