Sebastian Berweck

Pianist ◦ Synthesist ◦ Performer ◦ Researcher

Sebastian Berweck is one of the leading interpreters of experimental contemporary music, specializing in electroacoustic performance, extended piano techniques and media archaeology. He is known for his energetic interpretations of unusual repertoire in- and outside the piano as well as theatrical performances and working with electronics. With over 300 world premieres to his name, he has established himself as a virtuoso musician combining acoustic and electronic keyboards of all sorts into one post-digital setup.

His thesis „It worked yesterday – On (re-)performing electroacoustic music“ is one of the most widely cited texts on the topic and has since been supported by many other texts in journals such as eContact!, Positionen, musikTexte or Neue Zeitschrift für Musik. He has since held teaching positions at several music universities and gave masterclasses and lectures at institutions such as Harvard, Stanford, and Berkeley.

Sebastian Berweck performs at major festivals across Europe such as Wien Modern, Warsaw Autumn, Maerzmusik Berlin, Klang Festival Copenhagen, Salzburger Festspiele as well as fringe, experimental venues like km28 Berlin or Kulturnhalle Leipzig. He is enjoying longstanding collaborations and friendships with many of the world’s most cutting edge composers and musicians, amongst them Sarah Nemtsov, Luxa M. Schüttler, Bernhard Lang, Annesley Black, Enno Poppe, and Christina Kubisch. He has been teaching Electroacoustic Performance Practice at Darmstadt International Summer Courses from 2014 – 2021 and is currently teaching at University of Music Hanns Eisler Berlin.

sebseb3000 · Laurie Spiegel: The Unquestioned Answer

Laurie Spiegel: The Unquestioned Answer (1976). Version for Minimoog by Sebastian Berweck

Malte Giesen: Concerto for hyperreal piano and orchestra (2017).
Ultraschall Berlin, Deutsches Symphonieorchester/Michael Wendeberg

sebseb3000 · Pierre Boulez: Incises

Pierre Boulez: Incises (1994). Live recording NDR at Großer Sendesaal Hannover

Dick Raaijmakers: Intona (1992). Re-enactment, trailer

Simon Steen-Andersen: Mono (Autotune Study)(2014). Live recording, Polish National Audiovisual Institute (NiNA), Warsaw

Kirsten Reese: Poirpoise (2019) for synthesizer trio
Lange//Berweck//Lorenz, sound and video

Bernard Parmegiani: Stries (1980). Lange//Berweck//Lorenz live at Ultraschall Berlin 2019

Current projects

alt/voice (Thickets of Love)

Hacking the oldest musical instrument – the human voice – with the latest technology and contemporary discourses: that is the concept behind alt/voice (Thickets of Love). The goal is to radically update the noble Klavierlied and explore its futuristic potential. The project by Sebastian Berweck (electronics, Berlin) and Mathias Monrad Møller (voice, Copenhagen) presents compositions for voice and electronics by five composers: SØS Gunver Ryberg, Luxa M. Schüttler, Simon Steen-Andersen, Ying Wang and Mathias Monrad Møller. The program will have its premiere at Ultraschall Berlin 2026 and will then tour across Europe.

The Minimoog Project

The Minimoog is considered the Stradivarius among analog synthesizers. Its massive sound has been used in countless pop productions and to this day sets the standard for every analog synthesizer. The instrument was largely ignored by the new music community until the Minimoog Project changed that. Since then, works for Minimoog by composers such as Georgia Koumará, Misha Cvijovic, Svetlana Maras, Annesley Black, and Dariya Maminova have been performed at international festivals like Heroines of Sound Berlin, Musica Electronica Nova Wroclaw and Klang Festival Copenhagen.

Lange//Berweck//Lorenz is a globally unique trio for electroacoustic music. Founded in 2014, the projects of this Berlin-based collective focus on the realization of electronic scores, the restoration and (re-)performance of electronic works from the past, and collaboration with contemporary composers on new pieces. L//B//L present themselves on stage with a laboratory of analog and digital synthesizers and machines, often enhanced by video and lighting design. They stand in the tradition of experimental live electronics of the 1960s and the electroacoustic ensembles of the 1970s and 1980s, albeit with a much greater post-digital access to today’s technological possibilities.

Composers as diverse as Bernhard Lang, Andrea Neumann, Julia Mihaly, Malte Giesen, Christina Kubisch, Hanna Hartman, Asmus Tietchens, and Hainbach have written for the ensemble.

langeberwecklorenz.de