hans w. koch is a composer and audio-visual artist based in Cologne who is primarily interested in unpredictability at all levels of a musical production; he creates open musical forms for various ensembles, with live-electronic and interdisciplinary aspects and develops mixed media installations. Koch also works with digital media, exploring their boundaries and implicit faults, in order to arrive at interactions that have a ‘life of their own’ and react in unpredictable ways to human input. In his recent work, Computers as Musical Instruments, koch researches hardware-specific aspects of different powerbook-models, looking for instrumental qualities in each machine.
 
In the piece 'Bandoneonbook', Koch sets up a patch in Max/MSP to filter and tune the feedback produced by the internal mic and speakers of a titanium powerbook. The sounds are controlled by the keyboard and make the machine dynamically playable via opening and closing the lid.
 
Hans W. Koch graduated from the Music College of Cologne in 1998 after initially studying music theory, and then composition with Johannes Fritsch and piano with Erwin Kuckertz. He’s completed residency at Künstlerhaus Schloß Wiepersdorf, sponserd by the Kulturfonds Foundation, and has done previous residencies in Tokyo and Los Angeles. Koch has exhibited, given lectures and performed all over the world, and has collaborated with a wide range of artists. He’s recently worked with musicologist Volker Straebel on an installation/performance at Tesla in Berlin, and he’s involved in a regular collaboration project with dancer Bettina Wenzel called Duo&2.
 
> Website hans w. koch
 
Appearances:
> CTM.08 > ANTICIPATING UNPREDICTABILITY