Birgit Ulher

Birgit Ulher also has her own web site

Photograph copyright Christine Huss.

Born in Nuremburg in 1961; trumpet.

Birgit Ulher studied the visual arts and still maintains an active interest and engagement with this area working on drawings, environments and graphic works on polaroids.

Since moving to Hamburg in 1982 her main interest has been in free improvisation and experimental music. At that time she co-founded a musicians collective and began working with various improvising groups. She has been organizing a festival for improvised music in Hamburg - Real Time Music Meeting - for about ten years.

Since 1990 she has been working on a more personal musical language and extended techniques from which she has established a distinguished grammer beyond the open trumpet sound. Between 1990 and 2000 she has been working with several ensembles, such as the trio with Jürgen Morgenstern and Martin Klapper, the PUT-Trio (with Ulrich Phillipp and Roger Turner), the European Improvisation Orchestra (with Tim Hodgkinson, Martin Klapper, Albert Markos, Victor Nubla, Krzysztof Knittel, Raymond Strid, amongst others), 65 (with Dorothea Schürch, Marianne Schuppe, Hannah E. Hänni, Robyn Schulkowsky, Co Streiff, Stevie Wishart, Claudia Ulla Binder) and a duo with Ernst Thoma, live-electronics. She has played numerous concerts and tours throughout Europe and the USA with her working groups as well as in occasional/once-only groupings with many European and American improvisers such as Rhodri Davies, Christoph Schiller, Söres Zsolt and John Edwards.

Birgit Ulher's current projects include:

• UNSK: a quartet with Martin Küchen, Lise-Lott Norelius and Raymond Strid
• Nordzucker with Lars Scherzberg, sax and Michael Maierhof, cello
• a duo with Ute Wassermann, voice
• a trio with Lou Mallozzi and Michael Zerang
• a trio with Damon Smith, doublebass and Martin Blume, drums, percussion
• a duo with Gino Robair, energized surfaces, voltage made audible

Recordings

1995, Humannoise Congress #7/#8/#9, Humannoise Congress CD-R/booklet.

1996, Air mail, Hybrid HMP CD 13. Duo with Wolfgang Ritthoff.

1999, Momentaufnahmen, NURNICHTNUR 1001030. Klapper/Ulher/Morgenstern.

2000, Umlaut, NURNICHTNUR 100 04 25. PUT.

2003, Slants, UNIT UTR 4142. Ulher/Thoma.

2003, Tidszon, Creative sources CS 014. UNSK.

2004, Landscape: recognizable, Creative sources CS 037. Birgit Uhler/Lou Mallozzi/Michael Zerang.

2004, Sputter, Creative sources CS 042. Birgit Uhler/Gino Robair.

2004, Sperrgut, Balance Point Acoustics bpa009. Birgit Ulher/Damon Smith/Martin Blume.

2005, 500gr, Creative sources CS 052. Nordzucker.

2005, Scatter, Creative sources CS 054. Solo.

2006, 3:1, Creative sources CS 110. Mazen Kerbaj/Birgit Uhler/Sharif Sehnaoui.

2007, Doppelgänger, Creative sources CS 103. Birgit Uhler/Ernesto Rodrigues/Carlos Santos.

2007, Blinzeln, Creative sources CS 155. Birgit Uhler/Heiner Metzger.

2007, Radio silence no more, Creative sources CS 155. Birgit Uhler/Heiner Metzger.

2008, Blips and ifs, Olof Bright OBCD22. Solo.

2008, Yelept, Balance Point Acoustics bpa014. Birgit Ulher/Ariel Shibolet/Adi Snir/Roni Brenner/Michel Mayer/Damon Smith/Ofer Bymel.

2010, Choices, Another timbre at41. Duo with Lucio Capece.