| Anne La Berge | |
| Birth Place: | Palo Alto, California, United States |
| Era: | Contemporary |
| Occupations: | Composer, flutist, improviser with electronics |
Anne La Berge was born in Palo Alto, California, in 1955. Her father was a neuropsychology scientist and her mother a violinist. She is a flutist, composer and improviser, currently residing in Amsterdam. Her performances bring together a virtuosic command of her instrument, use of microtonal textures and melodies, and an array of percussive flute effects, all combined with electronic processing. These have distinguished her as “a pioneer in a wide array of new techniques”.[1] Many of her compositions involve her own participation, though she has produced works intended solely for other performers, usually involving guided improvisation and electronics. She is known for her use of texts that form part of her compositions and improvisations.[2] In addition to creating her own work, she regularly performs in other artists’ projects in a range of settings from modern chamber music to improvised electronic music.
While pursuing PhD research at the University of California, San Diego in the mid-1980s she formed a duo with flutist John Fonville, commissioning new works and exploring extended techniques on flute, particularly with regard to microtonal scales. She moved to Amsterdam in 1989, where she has lived ever since.
In 1999, together with Steve Heather and Cor Fuhler, she founded the Kraakgeluiden, a improvisation series based in Amsterdam, exploring combinations of acoustic instruments, electronic instruments and computers, and using real-time interactive performance systems.[3] Many of the musical collaborations that have resulted have taken on a life beyond the Kraakgeluiden series, which ceased in 2006. La Berge’s own music has evolved in parallel, and the flute has become only one element in a sound world that includes samples, synthesis, the use of spoken text and electronic processing.
In 2006 - 2007 she collaborated with Dr. David LaBerge. This is a performance work based on Dr. La Berge's apical dendrite theory using film, narrative voice samples and music.
She performs on a set of quarter tone (Kingma system) flutes and regularly uses the Kyma (sound design language) System for audio synthesis and processing.
She can be heard on the New World Records, Z6 Records, Largo, Artifact, Etcetera, Hat Art, Frog Peak, Einstein, X-OR, Unsounds, Canal Street, Rambo, esc.rec., Data, chmafu, Carrier, verz, Splendor, Present Sounds Recordings, Wandelweiser Records, Another Timbre and Relative Pitch Records labels which include recordings as a soloist and with Lukas Simonis, Ensemble Modern, United Noise Toys, Fonville/La Berge duo, Rasp/Hasp, Bievre/La Berge duo, Apricot My Lady, the Corkestra, MAZE, Joe Williamson, Ig Henneman, Jaimie Branch, Diamanda La Berge Dramm, David Dramm, Phil Maguire, Ted Moore, Seamus Cater, Danya Pilchen and Tom Baker.
She is an active artist in Splendor Amsterdam, a collective of 50 musicians, composers and stage artists who have transformed an old bathhouse in the center of Amsterdam into a cultural mecca.
Anne La Berge has regularly received funding from the Dutch Funds for Composers, the Funds for the Podium Arts and the Amsterdam Funds for the Arts. She is the co-director, with her husband David Dramm, of the Volsap Foundation. She has been teaching courses at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague from 2019. She also works as a freelance coach for the Amsterdam based Executive Performance Training company.