Cello, double bass & composer
Biography:
| Johanna Varner, cellist, double bass player, composer, born 1963 in Munich, Austrian citizen; Cello state examination at the Munich Music Academy with Prof. Kiskalt; 1984 2nd prize in the Bubenreuth string quartet competition; Cello studies at the David-Oistrakh-Akademie Ingolstadt with Eldar Issakadze; master classes with the Alban Berg Quartet; since 1986 solo performances with FM Unit, Ulrike Haage, Katharina Franck, Alex Hacke, Phil Minton, Dieter Schnebel, George Lewis; Collaboration with Martin Schütz, Gloria Coates, Ruedi Häusermann, Barry Gay and Larry Porter; Temporary assistants in the Munich Chamber Orchestra; double bass lessons with Rufus Reid, Thomas Stabenow and Henning Sieverts; Participation in numerous jazz bands; played as an orchestra musician under L. Bernstein, C. Poppen and others; 2000 foundation of the ›Ensemble Laurier‹ for contemporary music; 2004 Music scholarship from the City of Munich for the purpose of a study visit to Amsterdam. Johanna Varner is the initiator of numerous concert series in Munich. As a leading member of the International Composers & Improvisers Forum Munich eV (ICI for short), she created the following series: – The series ›Internationale Treffen‹, funded three years in a row by the German Music Council, the Cultural Department and various district committees of the state capital Munich and the Austrian Kulturforum.– The ›Composer in Dialogue‹ series, sponsored by the Kulturstiftung der Stadtsparkasse München and the Cultural Department of the City of Munich – with guests Joëlle Léandre and Olga Neuwirth.– The monthly series ›Improvised Music Munich‹ on the former rehearsal stage ›Schwere Reiter‹ of the Falckenberg School provided by the cultural department.– The children’s interactive music theater ›Music up close – with Charlie around the world‹ (approx. 100 performances in schools and in large halls in Munich, Bavaria and Austria), sponsored by the cultural department and the school department.Johanna Varner played in the ›Internationalen Treffen‹ with Christofer Varner, Barry Guy, Joëlle Léandre, Pierre Favre, Maya Homburger, Han Bennink, Lucas Niggli, Susan Alcorn, Tobias Delius, Johannes Bauer, Freddy Studer, Franz Hautzinger, Thomas Lehn, George Lewis, Gunnar Geisse, Evan Parker, Joel Grip, Mary Oliver and Phil Durrant. Some permanent ensembles emerged from these encounters such as: AMMÜ (Bennink, Oliver, Varner & Varner), STRINGS (Guy, Homburger, Varner & Varner), JOMO (Mary Oliver, J. Varner), Olivege (Oliver, Geisse, Varner & Varner). |
Albums:
