German duo Grandbrothers to perform in Riga for the first time
The German duo Grandbrothers, who blend an acoustic grand piano with electronic music, will play their first Riga concert at the Congress Hall on 4 December. The show is audiovisual and features material from their fifth album, “Elsewhere”.
The German duo Grandbrothers will perform at the Riga Congress Hall on 4 December, marking their first concert in the Latvian capital. The act combines acoustic piano music with electronic music and sound technology, and the Riga date is billed as an audiovisual show. Latvian audiences have already seen the pair at the “Lielais dzintars” concert hall in Liepāja, but Riga has not hosted them before.
Who Grandbrothers are
The duo consists of jazz pianist and composer Erol Sarp and sound engineer Lukas Vogel, who specialises in electronic music and technology. They formed in Düsseldorf in 2011 and gained international recognition for an unusual approach to the possibilities of the acoustic concert grand. Using a purpose-built electromechanical system that acts on the piano's strings and other parts of the instrument, they create rhythmic structures, percussion effects and layered soundscapes.
The new album and the stage show
The Riga programme will give an important place to their fifth studio album, “Elsewhere”. Earlier compositions relied almost entirely on the sounds of the specially equipped grand piano. In the new phase, analogue synthesizers and drum machines have been added, along with a stronger influence from electronic dance music.
The organisers say the stage concept gives a major role not only to the music but also to lighting design and technology. The grand piano becomes the central element of the audiovisual composition, while light and electronic sound shift with the mood of each piece.
Interest in the Baltics
Demand in the region is shown by Lithuania: tickets for the duo's 17 October concert at the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society in Vilnius sold out shortly after the show was announced.
