Michael Fischer

Biography
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Michael Fischer works on the speech immanence of sounds and their sculptural and dramatic evidence, in the field of experimental free improvised music, sound-art and Instant Composition Conducting. His work in these areas has been presented at festivals, literary and visual arts institutions, universities, and radio stations; he has performed throughout Europe, in the Lebanon, Canada, the United States and Japan, and has undertaken extensive tours of the latter.

In 1999, he began to integrate the acoustic phenomenon feedback into his work and developed an exclusively analog, no-effect-based instrument, the feedback-saxophone, which was further developed at ZKM - Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe or STEIM Amsterdam and presented at ZKM Globale festival/GER, POL festival/GER, Concertgebow Amsterdam, Ad Libitum festival/PL, Donaufestival/AT, New Adits festival/AT, Parallel Vienna Art Fair a.m.o..

Since the 90s he has collaborated with key-figures in free improvised music such as Irene Schweizer, William Parker, Denis Charles, Peter Kowald, Karoline Leblanc, Ingrid Jensen, Burton Greene, John Edwards, Mark Sanders, a.m.o., and is founder and co-founder of many ensembles, a.o. long-standing projects BAGG*FISH (duo with Marcos Baggiani since 2004; Sonic Circuits festival/USA, Mozg festival/PL, Artacts festival/AT, Elevate festival/AT, Zajkert festival/H) or M. A. D. Fischer Vicard Kern (since 2012; Irtijal Festival Beirut/LIB, Next festival/SK, Faun festival/CZ).

He also has collaborated with artists / artist collectives in the visual arts and performance such as NEON (together with Albert Mayr), Lore Heuermann, Marc Adrian, Dmitri Prigow; The Meeting/Moving Point Amsterdam, Baby-Q dance comp. Kyoto, Magpie comp. Amsterdam, a.o.) as well as with significant poets (Gerhard Rühm, Gerhard Jaschke a.m.o.).

In 2005 he started using a special setting for ad hoc soundscapes and fixed-media compositions on three cd-players for collaborations with poets in experimental poetry. With this setup, he collaborated with writers at festivals, on international radio stations, and at renowned literary institutions.

In 2004 he launched the Vienna Improvisers Orchestra (performances at the Moers-Festival, Wien Modern Festival 2020/2025, Music Unlimited festival, Artacts festival, Porgy&Bess Vienna a.m.o.) and is its Instant Composition Conductor and art. dir. since then.
As Instant Composition Conductor he also leads international improvisation orchestras and temporary large ensembles for festivals and gives guest-lectures at universities in Europe, Canada, the USA and Japan, f.e. at the Peabody Institute at The Johns Hopkins Univ. Maryland/USA, Univ. of California Irvine/USA, Festival International de Improvisación Madrid/ES, Wien Modern/AT, Deriva Jazz Festival/ES, Traumzeitfestival/GER, Creative Music Festival/JAP, Renzo Piano Building/IT, Univ. for Music & Performing Arts Vienna/AT, Bruckner Univ. Linz/AT, Janacek Academy of Music & Performing Arts/CZ, Univ. of Montenegro Music Academy/ME, Univ. of Architecture Vaduz/LI a.m.o..

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Michael Fischer

"The feedback-saxophone is strictly analog, with no processing or effects; it is a microphone capsule in the saxophone tube, connected with a rudimentary pre-amp plugged into a basic mixer, which sends the signal to the front-of-house sound system and an on-stage, on-site available feedback-trigger-speaker. It contextualizes the saxophone as/within an ephemeral sound-noise-speech sculpture, expands the sonic palette of the saxophone into otherworldly resonant and percussive spaces, and transforms its range into a twisted, noisy electric guitar, or an alien percussive orchestra speaking in a cryptic lingo