Viola Falb

Viola Falb (* 1980 in Großwiesendorf ) is an Austrian jazz musician (saxophone, clarinet, composition) who uses “influences between free jazz and folkloric and chamber music” in her compositions.

Live and act

At the age of seven, Falb attended the Eggenburg Music School, where she first had piano lessons before the saxophone became her main instrument at the age of eleven. In 1994 she switched to the Hollabrunn Music School. In 1998 she graduated from the high school in Hollabrunn ; During her school days, Falb played in various jazz ensembles at the music school, the big band and in the saxophone quartet. After graduating from high school, she continued her education at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna , where she took lessons from Christian Maurer, Oto Vrhovnik , Klaus Dickbauer and Wolfgang Puschnig . After completing her bachelor's degree with a focus on piano with Michael Lipp in 2002/03, she continued her master's degree in saxophone popular music with a focus on composition, arrangement, big band and ensemble, which she completed in 2007 with distinction. During this time she also had study stays at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” Berlin 2004/2005, completed the jazz theory studies with Andy Middleton at the Vienna Conservatory in 2006/2007, the master’s degree in jazz composition with Christoph Cech at the Anton Bruckner Private University in Linz 2007/2008 as well as lessons in New York City with u. a. Chris Potter , Steve Lehman , Ellery Eskelin , Rudresh Mahanthappa , Will Vinson and Max Pollak in 2010 as well as composition and saxophone lessons with Django Bates , Gerald Resch and Hayden Chisholm in 2013.

From the mid-2000s, Falb worked with the band Jazz at Ralf (with Wolfgang Schiftner, Arnold Zamarin, Florian Fennes ), with whom the first recordings were made in 2004. In 2004 she founded the formation Falb Fiction (with Christian Wendt , Herbert Pirker , Philipp Jagschitz ), for which she also composed and so far recorded three albums. Since then, she has also worked with the saxophone quartet Phoen (album Verdelte (2010), with Christoph Pepe Auer , Florian Fennes, Arnold Zamarin) and the Barbara Bruckmüller Big Band ( Mei Mutterl was a Weanerin , 2015). Her own projects also include the Duo Kitsch & Glory (with Maria Holzeis-Augustin), the experimental trio Trip-Ling (with Michael Bruckner-Weinhuber and Martin Ptak), which is influenced by John Zorn's News for Lulu project a duo with bassist Bernd Satzinger.

Viola Falb also received numerous composition commissions, including a. for the Austrian Brass Band Association , the Vienna Jazz Workshop , the Weinviertel Festival , the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, the Lower Austrian Composers' Association and the Spontaneous Network for Improvised Music . She has taught at the Retz Music School (Lower Austria) and since 2012 at the Hollabrunn Music School.

Honourings and prices

Viola Falb was awarded the “Jazzzeit Audience Award” in 2004 and 2006, the Federal Ministry's “New Austrian Sound Of Music” award in 2006 and the Hans Koller Award in 2008 in the “Newcomer of the Year” category. In 2006 she was also selected as the musical representative of Austria for the " European Youth Jazz Orchestra ". In 2013 she received the Lower Austrian Culture Prize , and in 2016 the Graz Harry Pepl Prize endowed with 4000 euros .

Web links

• Falb Fiction website
• Brief portrait (DLF)
• Viola Falb at Discogs (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Radio protocol: Jazz is female ( memento of the original from December 2, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Short portrait on ORF from May 31, 2010 
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e} portrait at Music Austria (2014)
3. ↑ Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed November 30, 2016)
4. ^ Report on the Harry Pepl Prize to Viola Falb at Noen.at