(le) poisson rouge

The JACK Quartet electrifies audiences worldwide with "explosive virtuosity" (Boston Globe) and "viscerally exciting performances" (New York Times). David Patrick Stearns (Philadelphia Inquirer) proclaimed their performance as being "among the most stimulating new-music concerts of my experience," and NPR listed their performance as one of "The Best New York Alt-Classical Concerts Of 2010." TheWashington Post commented, "The string quartet may be a 250-year-old contraption, but young, brilliant groups like the JACK Quartet are keeping it thrillingly vital." Alex Ross (New Yorker) hailed their performance of Iannis Xenakis' complete string quartets as being "exceptional" and "beautifully harsh," and Mark Swed (Los Angeles Times) called their sold-out performances of Georg Friedrich Haas' String Quartet No. 3 In iij. Noct. "mind-blowingly good." The quartet's recording of Xenakis' complete string quartets appeared on "Best Of" lists from the Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, New Yorker, NPR, and as "one of 2009's most impressive recordings" from Time Out New York.

JACK has performed to critical acclaim at the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ (Netherlands), Festival Internacional Cervantino (Mexico), Donaueschinger Musiktage (Germany), Library of Congress, Miller Theatre, Morgan Library & Museum, and Kimmel Center with recent and upcoming performances at the Ultraschall Festival (Germany), Da Camera Society (Los Angeles), Monday Evening Concerts, Town Hall Seattle, Les Flâneries Musicales de Reims (France), Arcana Festival (Austria), Wigmore Hall (United Kingdom), and Strathmore Hall.

Comprising violinists Christopher Otto and Ari Streisfeld, violist John Pickford Richards, and cellist Kevin McFarland, JACK is focused on the commissioning and performance of new works, leading them to work closely with composers Helmut Lachenmann, György Kurtág, Matthias Pintscher, Georg Friedrich Haas, James Dillon, Toshio Hosokawa, Wolfgang Rihm, Elliott Sharp, Beat Furrer, Caleb Burhans, and Aaron Cassidy. Upcoming and recent premieres include works by Alan Hilario, Peter Ablinger, Gregory Spears, Elliott Sharp, Jason Eckardt, and Hannah Lash. The quartet also offers fresh interpretations of early music, including works by Don Carlo Gesualdo, Guillaume de Machaut, and Josquin des Prez.

JACK has led workshops with young composers at the University of Iowa, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Darmstadt Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik (Germany), New York University, Columbia University, Carnegie Mellon University, Eastman School of Music, University at Buffalo, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Northwestern University, University of Huddersfield (United Kingdom), University of Washington, University of Victoria (Canada), and Manhattan School of Music. In addition to working with composers and performers, JACK seeks to broaden and diversify the potential audience for new music through educational presentations designed for a variety of ages, backgrounds, and levels of musical experience.

The members of the quartet met while attending the Eastman School of Music, and they have since studied with the Arditti Quartet, Kronos Quartet, Muir String Quartet, and members of the Ensemble Intercontemporain. JackQuartet.com

Born in 1968 in Vienna my career starts as a DJ in a Viennese gay bar called "Motto" in 1982. Together with my studio partner DJ PURE I create the project ILSA GOLD and release the first 12 Up on the label Mainframe in 1992. Catchy samples paired with an ironic breeze is the trademark of Ilsa Gold, the tracks UP and SILKE become celebrated anthems of the Rave- and Technoscene with numerous performances all over Europe following.

The release of the album DIE ZIPFELMUETZE, DER HANDWAGEN UND DIE GUMMIMUSCHI on our own label GSICHT WIA DA BEIDL VON AN OIDN MANN RECORDS in 1995 shows the God of Techno Sven Vaeth with a prick cap on the cover and provokes a middle sized scandal in Germany.

In the same time I publish serious productions on the labels CHEAP, POMELO, LABWORKS and TEST TUBE and found the the retro-hardcore label PETRA in 1996. With PUNK ANDERSON - SHAVE THAT PUSSY I herald the 80s trash revival and succeed with I'M A DISCO DANCER (Gigolo / XL) in the worldwide clubscene. With the persiflage of a frustrated electronic nerd called GERHARD I shine on the label Wiener Stadtwerke and as ROY EDEL I foresee a sad and folksy future to rave-music. In the following years my activities are limited to remixing, amongst others Pulp, Chicks On Speed, Stereo Total and Divine.

In 2002 I strike back with my own productions on Cheap and Giant Wheel and with ACID JOSEPH I cover the Ecstasy Club classic I LOVE THE ACID. For the ten year anniversary of Ilsa Gold I produce the double CD REGRETTEN? RIEN! on Mego and re-release my album Jeans & Electronic on the Combination Records' Forever Young series. HOUSE 2 as a sequel to House appears on Cheap in November 2004 and I decide to focus all of my attention to the production of a long play record - my first since Jeans & Electronic in 1997.

ROLAND FLICK FAIRMONT PRINCESS ..1527 is the result, describing my present ideas about producing electronic music for more than one decade. The first take of it POPPER, followed by the Tricky Disco cover DISCO 128 is a co-production with my brother RAPHAEL and portrays the euphoric and innocent feeling of the first Techno parties in the early 90s - a time far away from the current postelectronic reflection.