HIBY/NEBBIA/BILAT/HESSION QUARTETT

Hans Peter Hiby (ts/as)

„Not that it was unexpected, but a festival as diverse and consistently impressive as this year's Visual Sound Outdoor Festival in Dortmund's Parzelle deserves explicit praise. Angelika Hoffmann's curatorial and conceptual philosophy is characterized by symbolic contrasts that ultimately subvert any clichéd expectations. When Hans Peter Hiby and Camila Nebbia stand side by side and make their saxophones glow, for example, this alone may initially trigger a few stereotypes: the old, masculine warhorse and the young, ambitious power woman. However, there was no trace of animus and anima, no yin and yang, but rather, if you will, gender mainstreaming, and not only because Hiby mostly uses an alto saxophone, while Nebbia uses a tenor saxophone, which in itself runs counter to the cliché. Two exceptional talents on equal footing, each with their own style and individual phrasing, of course, but no trace of old vs. young, man vs. woman, just expressiveness and dedication. The two are framed by the masterful Paul Hession on drums and the young cellist Julia Bilat, the latter initially reserved, almost shy, but then erupting at just the right moment and feeding into the collective high-energy flow. Brötz was in the house! What a spectacle!“

Bernd Lederer Freistil Magazin August 2025