Kaja Draksler Octet – In Time

Kaja Draksler, composition, piano; Laura Polence, voice; Björk Níelsdóttir, voice; Ada Rave, tenor saxophone, clarinet; Ab Baars, tenor saxophone, clarinet, shakuhachi; George Dumitriu, violin, viola; Lennart Heyndels, double bass; Onno Govaert, drums, percussion

In her music-making, pianist and composer Kaja Draksler moves between composition and improvisation, drawing from a variety of styles, places and historical periods. The Octet is Draksler’s attempt to realize some of the musical ideas collected during her jazz and classical composition studies at the prestigious Conservatorium van Amsterdam, as well as the experiences she later gained as an active free improviser. The project Sčasoma / In Time brings together a colourful group of eight international musicians, hailing mainly from Amsterdam, where the octet was formed. 

The Octet premiered In Time, a new set of music inspired by Matsuo Basho’s poetry, in 2021 at Concertgebouw Brugge. Draksler later made new arrangements and added new pieces, to be premiered in Slovenia this coming April under the title Sčasoma / In Time, produced by the Sploh Institute.  

The Octet has so far released two highly acclaimed albums, both on Clean Feed. The first, a double album Gledalec, came out in 2017, and their second recording, Out for Stars, containing musical settings of poems by Robert Frost, was released in 2020.

The event is held in collaboration with the Sploh Institute's Razsrediščenja concert series and the Better Live project, co-funded by the EU Creative Europe programme.