We open our Kiezsalon season for the first time in Neukölln at Schloss Britz—an 18th-century neoclassical manor house. On Friday 30 May, in the castle’s farmyard we present Scottish smallpipes player Brìghde Chaimbeul, British saxophonist Cassie Kinoshi and the new collaboration between Paul Wallfisch & Dana Schechter both former Swans members. We continue on Saturday with Ann Annie and Merope with Shahzad Ismaily.
Brìghde Chaimbeul is a composer and musician who breaks new ground with the Scottish smallpipes. A native Gaelic speaker raised on the Isle of Skye, Brìghde roots her music in her language and culture but uses the instrument’s rich drones to create trance-like atmospheres. “Chaimbeul has brought Scottish piping to a new audience with her captivating style, which has affinity with psychedelic drone as well as the folk traditions of the north,” wrote The Quietus about her ambient and electronica-influenced 2023 album Carry Them With Us. Acclaimed Canadian sound explorer and saxophonist Colin Stetson is a featured collaborator on the record.
Cassie Kinoshi is a composer, arranger and alto saxophonist based in Berlin and London. She leads the jazz ensemble seed., and has composed for the London Symphony Orchestra and for productions at the National Theatre and Globe Theatre. She also collaborated with Aurora Orchestra on the 2021 performance Three Suns Suite, and with turntablist NikNak and London Contemporary Orchestra on 2023’s gratitude. Writing about the 2024 album release of gratitude, All About Jazz said: “Musically and conceptually, it is an important album, and a rewarding one.”
Composer, pianist and music director Paul Wallfisch is known for his work across film, theatre and rock music. Starting in New York’s 1980s East Village music scene, Paul founded the band Botanica, who released eight albums. He has a long-running collaboration with Little Annie and has also performed and recorded with Swans, Firewater, Love & Rockets, Syl Sylvain, Stiv Bators and Marissa Nadler. Since 2020 he has been Music Director at Vienna’s Volkstheater, where his recent scores include Tennessee Williams’ Camino Real, a collaboration with Calexico.
Dana Schechter is a musician, composer, visual artist and animator based in Berlin. Originally from New York, she founded her band Bee And Flower there in 1999. In 2011 she started the cinematic doom project Insect Ark, initially solo but now a duo with Khanate drummer Tim Wyskida. New Noise Magazine described their 2024 album Raw Blood Singing as “a fearless foray into a dark forest.” She has played bass, lap steel guitar and keyboards with American Music Club, Swans, Angels Of Light, Zeal And Ardor and Wrekmeister Harmonies.
At the Kiezsalon Dana Schechter and Paul Wallfisch present their new collaborative project, the soundtrack to Kleist prizewinner Wolfram Lotz’s play ‘Die Politiker.’ Recorded live at the Volkstheater, Vienna, the surrealistic, doom-metal, existential romp soundtrack will be released by Vienna label Trost Records in May 2025.
During the Kiezsalon, the current exhibition at Schloss Britz, Die ganze Zeit, will be on display and accessible for our guests. The show brings together ten contemporary artists—including Carsten Nicolai, Ahmed Ramadan and Anna Borgman, amoung others—to explore how time has shaped society, from the industrial age to today. Their works examine time as a tool of power, control and change, while also imagining possible alternatives.
Schloss Britz, a historic estate dating back to 1375, is a charming retreat in Berlin’s Neukölln district, where a beautifully restored manor house sits amidst open green spaces. With its blend of history, nature and culture, it’s an ideal setting to open our Kiezsalon season under the warm spring sun.
The Kiezsalon is a project by Digital in Berlin. Curated by Michael Rosen and funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion. Presented by The Wire and taz, die tageszeitung and kindly supported by Schloss Britz.