Michael Vorfeld

Michael Vorfeld works as a sound and visual artist from his base in Berlin, Germany. His installations typically emphasize the spatialization of light through minimalist architecture paired with sound design to achieve pure, crystalline shapes. In his music he relies on bowed cymbals together with homemade string instruments for the production of shimmering, microtonal compositions abundant in overtones. Performances have taken him across Europe, Japan, and America, whether solo or alongside fellow improvisers and at times dancers. Documentation of his output appears chiefly via the German imprint NURNICHTNUR, alongside releases on Hybrid, AufRhur, X-Tract, and Trente Oiseaux.

Born in 1956, Vorfeld took up music at fourteen upon acquiring a pair of bongos. Percussion initially drew him through rock during his high school years with standard teen ensembles. He subsequently shifted toward experimental and improvised music. Throughout the 1980s he joined the interdisciplinary collective Heinrich Mucken, whose members also encompassed Claus van Bebber, Helmut Lemke, and Dieter Schlensog, all of whom later became familiar figures on NURNICHTNUR. The group created site-specific projects encompassing both music and visual art. To pursue this visual dimension further, he pursued studies in Cologne and Kassel, where he obtained an M.A. in visual communication.

For a period he concentrated on visual arts, with exhibitions throughout Europe. He developed his distinctive percussion approach as an outgrowth of that practice. His debut major release, Klimazonen, appeared in 1991. The 1995 album Sieben Freunde established the primary trajectory of his work by combining bowed cymbals with string instruments, the latter bearing similarity to Stephan Froleyks' haunting stringed tub. This recording garnered notable interest. Moving beyond the installation and sound art context, Vorfeld returned to live ensemble playing, collaborating in duos and trios with German musicians including guitarist Hans Tammen along with percussionists Wolfgang Schliemann and Burkhard Beins, and subsequently with Americans such as instrument designer Lou Mallozzi and double reedist Robbie Hunsinger. He also featured on Martin Speicher's Erdtöne: Notation des Lots and took part in Mux Trio as well as Vestige Vertical. Late in 2001 he issued Au Défaut du Silence alongside Reinhold Friedl, marking the initial acoustic album on the lowercase imprint Trente Oiseaux.