Austrian piano player, composer and improviser Elisabeth Harnik is a Konrad Boehmer Visiting Professor at the Royal Conservatoire’s Institute of Sonology in The Hague. This brings her so close to Antwerp/Dropa House and Fred Van Hove’s grand piano that she can’t resist coming down for a concert and a 2 day residency/recording session with fellow lecturers, composer-improvisers Milana Zarić (harp) and Richard Barrett (electronics). On Saturday September 26th they will start the residency with a trio concert. For tickets and details go here!

Elisabeth Harnik – Milana Zarić – Richard Barrett (AT/RS/UK)

A global presence in contemporary jazz, Elisabeth Harnik has collaborated with scene luminaries including Harri Sjöström, Andrea Centazzo, Jaap Blonk, John Edwards, Tony Buck, Steve Swell, Jasna Jovićević, and Zlatko Kaučič. She also maintains deep, long-standing ties with the iconic bassist Joëlle Léandre and Chicago’s free music scene, regularly partnering with Ken Vandermark, Dave Rempis, Michael Zerang, Tim Daisy, and Fred Lonberg-Holm. A decorated composer and performer, her numerous honours include the prestigious Andrzej Dobrowolski Composition Prize from the Province of Styria, Austria. In 2016, she earned her Deep Listening Certificate from Pauline Oliveros’s Center for Deep Listening at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.

Over the past two decades the work of Netherlands-based, Belgrade-born harpist, composer, and performer, Milana Zarić has continually pushed the boundaries of her instrument and forged new ground in collaborative creation. Formerly principal harpist with the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, she specialises in 20th-century and contemporary repertoire, free improvisation, and experimental music practices. She is the founder and artistic director of Ensemble Studio 6—a collective focused on transdisciplinary practices—and performs in a long-standing duo with Richard Barrett. Having premiered over 40 solo and ensemble works, she frequently expands her acoustic harp through voice, zither, percussion, electric harp, and electronics. As an active improviser, she has collaborated with key figures including Evan Parker, Agustí Fernández, Elisabeth Harnik, Frances-Marie Uitti, Butch Morris, Annie Gosfield, Chris Cutler, Reinhold Friedl, Katalin Ladik, Rhodri Davies, and Biliana Voutchkova.

A Welsh-born composer and performer whose practice spans free improvisation, intricately-notated scores, acoustic chamber music, and cutting-edge digital technology, Richard Barrett is a central figure in contemporary music. His ongoing collaborative projects include long-standing partnerships with the ELISION ensemble (since 1990), Paul Obermayer in the electronic duo FURT (since 1986), the Evan Parker Electroacoustic Ensemble (since 2003), and harpist Milana Zarić with Ensemble Studio 6 (since 2013). Together with Zarić, he co-founded the digital label STRANGE STRINGS in 2020. Barrett’s work is documented on over 40 CDs, and his books Music of Possibility (2019) and Transforming Moments (2023) are published by Vision Edition. He teaches at the Institute of Sonology in The Hague and is Professor of Creative Music Research at Leiden University.