Fried Dähn

Biography

Friedemann 'Fried' Dähn

The cellist, composer and sound-artist is working in classical, contemporary and electronic music as well as in media and video arts.

In 1988 he completed his studies with Johannes Goritzki at the Düsseldorf music conservatory "with exellence", after taking part in additional master classes with Boris Pergamenschikow, Heinrich Schiff, Michael Flaksman and Misha Maisky.

Between 1988 and 1991 he has been cellist of the well known Ensemble Modern in Frankfurt, where he had the opportunity to work with K.-H. Stockhausen, Ornette Coleman and Frank Zappa, to mention only a few. At the same time he developed an electric cello and started his own musical projects in the fields of improvisation, electronic and jazz as well as projects combining different genres of art as sound and language or music and visuals.

In 1992 he became principal cellist of the Wuerttemberg Philharmonic Orchestra.

From 2004 till 2012 he was a professor for audio design and sound arts at the University for Applied Sciences in Schwäbisch Hall.

As Cellist he toured worldwide and performed in China, Russia, USA, Brazil and in the important centers of music all over Europe. He has been artist in residence at the Cleveland Institute of Art in 2003. In 2004 he was invited to Subtropics - Festival for experimental music in Miami, 2007 he performed and lead a workshop in Malaga/Spain.

He was the first in exploring the possibilities of an electric cello and played this instrument - first his self-designed instrument, later the Zeta and the NS cello, meanwhile mostly the sbip cello - in various groups and ensembles from experimental to art rock, from jazz to free improvisation.

A remarkable project was the Ensemble Klangstein with Klaus Fessmann and Manfred Kniel. Founded 1998, the ensemble toured Europe and performed in the USA. Concerts were often held at unique places as on top of the Zugspitze, the Terme in Vals/Switzerland, the Dom in Salzburg or the Ministry of Justice in Berlin.  The speciality of this group is the combination of the 'Klangsteine' [sounding stones], water and stone percussion and acoustic and electric cello. Since 2009 Markus Stockhausen on trumpet occasionally joins the ensemble. In 2010 the group invited indian singer Mahesh Vinayakram for concerts in Switzerland and Austria.