Lê Quan Ninh & Michel Doneda: Soundtrips NRW brings free improvisation to the workshop
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An evening between breath, resonance, and free improvisation in the workshop
With Soundtrips NRW, an exceptional duo comes to Gelsenkirchen on April 30, 2026: The French percussionist Lê Quan Ninh and the saxophonist Michel Doneda meet in the workshop with an audience eager for immediate live atmosphere, sonic border crossings, and an intense concert experience. Both musicians have represented free improvisation, fine dynamics, and a sound that unfolds in the moment rather than adhering to routines for decades.
When sound becomes a conversation
These two artists share a long musical partnership, considered formative in the European improvisation scene. Lê Quan Ninh has straddled contemporary music and free improvisation since the early 1980s; Michel Doneda is regarded as one of the most distinctive voices of improvised saxophone. Together they create music that relies not on effect, but on tension, nuance, and precise synchronization in the moment.
Subtle textures instead of grand gestures
Those expecting massive pressure on this evening will receive something different: a dense play of air, wood, metal, silence, and resonance. The orchestration arises not from a fixed score but from reaction, listening, and spontaneous shaping. This is exactly where the strength of this concert lies: Every movement at the instrument can tilt the course, deepen it, or open it in a new direction. Thus, a stage performance emerges that grows rather than simply unfolds.
Soundtrips NRW brings European improvisational art to Gelsenkirchen
The concert is part of the series Soundtrips NRW, which is supported by the NRW KULTURsekretariat and makes stops in several cities of the country. For Gelsenkirchen, the workshop on Hagenstraße has been a venue for concentrated cultural formats with proximity to the audience for years. The combination of an intimate venue and risky, open music is ideally suited for this evening, which also features Gunda Gottschalk and Anna Größbrink as guests.
Guests, space, and audience atmosphere
The workshop at Hagenstraße 34 brings visitors close to the action. This creates precisely the tension that makes free improvisation come alive: You hear every breath, every attack, every color shift in sound. For fans of experimental concerts, jazz outside of the boxes, and contemporary sound art, this results in an evening with a special audience atmosphere and high concentration.
Conclusion: A concert for open ears and brave music fans
Soundtrips NRW – Lê Quan Ninh & Michel Doneda promises an intense live experience between contemplation and energy, between fine sound painting and eruptive moments. Anyone wishing to experience improvised music in its purest, most direct form should not miss this evening in Gelsenkirchen.
Official channels of Lê Quan Ninh:
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Official channels of Michel Doneda:
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