biography:
Antoine Chessex is a composer, saxophone player and performer born in 1980 in Vevey, Switzerland.
Chessex investigates the possibilities of both experimental electronic and acoustic music. His sonic researches include compositions for ensembles, solo performances and collaborations with other fellow artists. Chessex´s works are mostly based on the exploration of the physicality of sounds and spaces with a strong focus on live performances and composition.
He presents his works worldwide and gave lectures and workshops at the Hochschule für Gestaltung (Offenbach), Academy of the Arts (Riga) and the department of electronic music of the Conservatory (Krakow).
In 2009, he received a composition grant by the swiss arts council Pro Helvetia for the creation of DUST, a piece for 3 violins, reel to reel tape recorder and quadraphonic sound system.
Furthermore, he has been organising shows for international artists in Berlin since 2002 and curates "Film in sounds" a monthly series for experimental movies and music in one of Berlin´s oldest cinema, the Tilsiter Lichtspiele.
Collaborations with musicians like Lasse Marhaug, Zbigniew Karkowski, Chris Corsano, Didi Bruckmayr, Thomas Ankersmit, Valerio Tricoli, C. Spencer Yeh, Axel Dörner, Hans Koch, Robin Hayward, Lucio Capece, Kasper Toeplitz, Monno, architect Christian Waldvogel and media artist Ulrike Gabriel.
Selected performances 2002-2009:
videotage (hong-kong) / urga (tokyo) / namba bears (osaka) / urbanguild (kyoto) / ochiai soup (tokyo) / npai festival (niort) / tuned city festival (berlin) / club transmediale festival (berlin) / ultra hang festival (budapest) / unsound festival (krakow) / dom (moscow) / kitaesky letchik (moscow) / sound forest festival (riga) / factory club (helsinki) /vaal gallery (tallinn) / instants chavires (paris) / overkill festival (london) / lem festival (barcelona) / sensexperiment festival (cordoba) / international film festival (rotterdam) / LUFF festival (lausanne) / DNK (amsterdam) / cap sembrat festival (barcelona) / sons d´hiver festival (marseilles) / hurrah festival (copenhagen) / pusterviktheater (goteborg) / antzokia (bilbao) / fundacion luis seone (galicia) / swiss institute (roma) / TAG (den haag) / mezzo cielo festival (roma) / corsica studios (london) / sonic protest festival (paris) / ze dos bois (lisbon) / szene (wien) / palace akropolis (prague) / castro (skopje)/ walcheturm (zürich) / living room (belgrade) / an club (athens) / eightball (thesaloniki) / audio art festival (krakow) / ruin festival (wien) / gallery ak28 (stockholm) / kset (zagreb) / (...)
Press quotes:
"Chessex is a key in Europe´s experimental music community" disk/ctm.
"Antoine Chessex muss als einer der vielseitigsten Musiker der jungen Generation gelten. Die Vielfalt seiner musikalischen Ausflüge scheint grenzenlos. (...) Chessex versucht ästhetisch beschränkten Schulen prinzipiell fernzubleiben". D.Eichmann. Beitrage zur Neue Musik, Germany.
"Chessex is a sax player who frees the instrument from its well-tempered traditional references by driving it into sounding limit experience – without losing control over instrument or sound" avantgarde fest 2007
"Noone plays the saxophone as abysmal as Chessex, when transforming his instrument into a black distorted foghorn by the use of circular breathing, amps and distortion pedals" CTM, Berlin
"The tenor sax came out a couple of minutes into the set, though, and sixteen flavours of fury were suddenly unleashed on the crowd. (...) by the end of the set, there was a wild man on stage, tearing holes in the fabric of reality with his horn and daring anybody present to do more than simply gape in awe. Absolutely the finest noise performance I've ever been lucky enough to witness". Finsquandrago, review of a live gig in Japan.
"(...)Eine halbe Stunde dauert dieser Moment, der einem das Herz stillstehen lassen will, bis Chessex am Rand der Erschöpfungs-Ohnmacht auf der Bühne zu schwanken beginnt und dabei beinah die Verstärker umreißt. Wie eine elektrische Wolke knistert die Kraft und die Erregung lange noch in der heißen Luft. Wäre dies das letzte Konzert, das wir erleben durften, es wäre ein würdiges Ende". Jens Balzer, Berliner Zeitung.
"Le bel écrin de cuivre n’est là que pour générer des tremblements telluriques, terriblement impressionnants qui seront ensuite travaillés, grâce aux nombreux artifices à sa disposition.(...)Intense expérience sonore compacte, raz de marée irrésistible où se mêlent éruptions volcaniques des profondeurs, naufrage de bâtiments de guerre rouillés, tonnerre et chants de sirènes apeurées. S’engageant entièrement dans sa performance, Chessex impressionne. L’assistance affronte debout cette vague surpuissante ou plus souvent, assise ou allongée, décide de se laisser submerger. Probablement moins improvisée qu’elle ne semble, la mise en place de cette sculpture sonore irrémédiable donne des frissons de plaisir et de peur. Expérience inédite, à mille lieues de tout ce qu’on peut imaginer, c’est une demi-heure hors de tout qui nous est offerte (...) Encore plus que les autres musiques, ici, c’est en direct que l’on goûte l’éphémère déluge. Et c’est sans doute derrière cette sensation ultime que court la faune présente ce soir." chronique NPAI festival.
"(...)The endeavor was repaid by a dazzling, if literally “minimal” result: the whole concept is in fact based on a single note, held by Chessex through the celebrated technique of circular breathing (listen attentively and you can hear him persistently sneezing as he plays moving around the place). The music was subdivided in five sections yet the central pitch remains practically the same, either precisely produced and kept resounding or slightly undulating, often brought to clash with its own reverberation to origin that slight conflict of adjacent frequencies that lovers of Phill Niblock or Alvin Lucier know so well. Only for a few instants of the fourth chapter, Chessex - I couldn’t say how willingly - transposes the tone one octave higher, but it doesn’t last. The concluding act lets us get the impression of the instrument’s sound slowly deteriorating, a handful of feeble multiphonics perceptible in the decaying airy mass at the end of the track. Despite the label’s recommendation of listening by headphones, the effect via the speakers is especially beautiful. 33 minutes of your life for these nerve-reinforcing quivers are definitely well spent". Massimo Ricci, Touchning Extremes, review of the acoustic solo release on naivsuper label.
