Wednesday, 15th November 2017
The Novi Sad Theatre – Újvidéki Szinház
Sankt Pölten, Austria
The 2024 European Capital of Culture Candidate
Franziska Hatz, accordion, voice
Jörg Reissner, guitar
Richie Winkler, saxophones, clarinets
Roman Britschgi, bass
Saša Nikolić, drums
Großmütterchen Hatz & Klok is the name of a newly formed world music ensemble by members of the Trio Klok and Großmütterchen Hatz Salon Orkestar. The fusion of the two groups in 2016 raised huge expectations in the very variety rich scene of Vienna as each of the two groups have been – independently from each other – guarantees for musical performances at the highest level.
In 2009, two musicians – accordion player Franziska Hatz and Richie Winkler on saxophone, well-known from the Jazz and Klezmer scene – formed the Großmütterchen Hatz Salon Orkestar, which very soon established itself an excellent international reputation through its individual and “wild” compositional mixtures of Jazz with folk traditions from each reachable corner on earth. In a similar way it was possible for the Trio Klok to convince the audiences by introducing a differentiating, fragile Balkan-sound highlighting in an incredible moving way the melodically swinging, lightly melancholic perspective of this music. Both groups got the attention of the world music scene by surprising with their own compositions demonstrating outstanding openness to integration of musical forms from all over the world. Großmütterchen Hatz & Klok is now the culminating result of the concentration of the main protagonists from both groups: Franziska Hatz, Richie Winkler from the Großmütterchen Hatz Salon Orkestar and Roman Britschgi (bass), Jörg Reissner (guitar), and Saša Nikolić (drums).
Where giddy-paced projects leave very little time to remember and only few bands manage to stay in the memory of audiences, Großmütterchen Hatz & Klok is demonstrating continuity and perseverance. Full of optimism, the newly formed ensemble radiates their immense love for music, and their compositions throughout their performances on stage include – often surprising – their very often dancing audiences. Their latest CD (the first by this newly formed ensemble) is titled “Salon Oskar” and is available here: :www.hoanzl.at
FRANZISKA HATZ, accordion, voice
Franziska was born in Klöch/Austria and started playing classical accordion at the age of 6. At 16 she was leading and conducting youth choirs (Klöch, Be-Cant, Pop-Vox and Vocalensemble Oktagon) and organizing and leading Gospel-workshops. Her voice training includes Speech-Level-Singing and the Heptner method. In 2009 Franziska received her Master’s Degree in Arts and Social Sciences, and started dedicating herself intensively to World Music, especially to the Klezmer and Balkan scene, and founded together with Richie Winker the Großmütterchen Hatz Salon Orkestar. In 2010 she additionally started working on social and integration projects, which are based on voice training and singing, e.g. Vorlaut/Superar International, which was founded by the famous Vienna Boys’ Choir, Caritas and the Vienna Konzerthaus. Franziska has since performed on the stages of many international music festivals: Roof of the World-Ethno-Jazz-Festival Tajikistan (2017, Großmütterchen Hatz & Klok), the opening ceremony of the Vienna Festival (2016), Jazz Festival Saalfelden (2015), Albanian Jazz Festival (2014), Nottingham Festival (2013), and the opening of the Salzburg Festival (2012). Franziska Hatz lives and works as independent artist in Vienna.
JÖRG REISSNER, guitar
Jörg was born in Schlanders/South Tyrol and has lived and worked as a fine artist and musician in Vienna since 2003 where he initially studied Art History at the University of Vienna, and later was accepted as a student of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. He has been invited to stage and perform at numerous national and international exhibitions, theatre productions and concerts. Jörg was also the founder of Die Heimwehtropfen, an art project combining fine arts, music and performance in the context of arts. Jörg Reissner has also been part of the internationally very successful theatre play “Alma – A Show Biz ans Ende” by Joshua Sobol and Paulus Manker. His specialization in music is focused on Jewish music, music of the Balkans and swing. In 2009, he released his first CD with the group Kapelush, with whom he has performed in Vienna and Prague. Since 2011, the year he founded the Trio Klok , he has been a guest on many international stages and published multiple albums, e.g.“Bard – Chapter 1”, “Trio Klok – 65 Hähne” and “Trio Klok – On Wood”. Recent music and theatre productions with his involvement are: “Der ewige Hund am Ball der Bärtigen” in Switzerland, “Wut” by Elfriede Jelinek in Klagenfurt, and since 2016 many national and international performances withGroßmütterchen Hatz & Klok.
RICHIE WINKLER, saxophones, clarinets
Richie grew up in Schwanberg/Austria and studied Saxophone at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz. Very early on, he had engagements at the Opera and the Schauspielhaus in Graz. But his real passion has always been jazz music: as a founding member of Quadrat and Orange he played with US-based singer Dean Bowman and the legendary trumpet player Randy Brecker. The repertoire consisted mostly of his own compositions and is documented on multiple CDs, e.g. Hot Message, Berliner Luft and MixDur. Many of his inspirations are stemming from traditional, klezmer as well as Balkan music. In these genres Richie Winkler has been part of many internationally successful groups with whom he has been on international tours for many years: Sandy LopicicOrkestar, Bucovina Club Orkestar around the Star-DJStefan Hantel, and the Großmütterchen Hatz Salon Orkestar, of which he isa cofounder. In recent years he has become a vital part of the crossover project Scurdia started by Markus Schirmer (piano) and Risgar Koshnaw (oud) and is composing, arranging and directing for the GMH-More Piece Band. Some of these works have been recorded and published on the CD Terry Goes Around. In 2016/17 he composed and arranged music for the festival “insel.klang.tage”, a work for an ensemble with organ, strings, horns and voices). Richie Winkler lives and works as an independent artist in Vienna and Graz, where he is teaching at the Johann-Joseph-Fux-Conservatory.
ROMAN BRITSCHGI, bass
Roman was born in Sarnen/Switzerland and, after being trained as a blacksmith, he moved to Vienna in 2002, where he was a student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. In addition to Vienna he also studied in Krakow/Poland focusing on “object sculpture”, interactive media and “music in space” until 2007. During this time he was also a very active musician on stages all over Europe: Glastonbury Festival/UK, Humorologie/Belgium, Cest is d’Best/Zagreb, Shetland Island Folk Festival and Theater Festival in Sibiu/Romania. In 2011 Roman Britschgi became a founding member of the Trio Klok, and continued working with a multitude of musicians and bands: Martin Lubenov, Wladigeroff-Brüder, Mahtias Rüegg and the Ensemble Klezmer Reloaded. Roman is also a founding member of the Vienna Klezmore Orchestra with whom he has played at the Festiwal Warszawa Singera, and a member of the Alp Bora Quartett (Turkey) feat. Salah Ammo (Syria) and Thomas Gansch (Austria). On his list are also performances with the Railroad-Project featuring Daniel Zamir (Israel), the Jazzorchester Voralberg, and Brody/Stickney/Britschgi/Eberle. For the occasion of the „Gästivals” in Lucerne he initiated the conglomerate „Alpenrösli”, a theatre-music-group, and is active as a co-curator for the Vienna Klezmore Festival. Roman Britschgi lives and works as an independent musician, composer and sculptor in Vienna.
SAŠA NIKOLIĆ, drums
Saša was born in Hameln/Germany. Aged only 6 months, he moved with his family to Croatia, where he grew up and lived for the next 25 years. In 1999 he came to Vienna to immerse himself into jazz-drums at the Gustav Mahler Conservatory, graduating in 2004, and to perform with many bands all over Europe: The Matchbox Bigband, Fatima Spar &The Freedom Fries, Tombo, Sawoff Shotgun, Deladap, Big City Splash, and Men in Black. In 2016 he completed the additional studies in Instrumental Pedagogy at the Jam Music Lab Conservatory and became a member of the ensemble Großmütterchen Hatz & Klok. Saša Nikolić lives in Vienna where he works with many artists like Hoda Mohajerani, Martin Klein, Coshiva, Monica Reyes and teaches drums and percussion.
