Portraits

Ilmārs Šterns, a Latvian - born composer and performer [sound & movement - related arts]. For several years, the author has been interested in researching the extension of body gestures and voice in confrontation with objects, pushing the boundaries and creating a new concept of musical performance. Manipulating the expressions of the body and interacting with objects beyond their pragmatic functions, Šterns focuses on the creation of communicative structures, considering the hierarchy between sound and movement, between autonomy and controllability. Here the body and the object become co-authors of improvisation, composition and sound structures. This allows the author to discover new experiences and dimensions of human life in a more meaningful respect for the environment.

Šterns is an active member of PANCH (Performance Art Network Switzerland) and Pakt-Bern (The New Music Network). He was nominated for the Art Award for Excellence in the Arts 2020 by the Ober-Gerwern in Bern, Switzerland. In 2016 won first prize at the Baltic Acoustic Festival “Silver Gull”. In 2014 he received the Latvian National Centre of Culture's “The appreciation acknowledgement for an investment in teaching the new generation of jazz musicians in Latvia”. In 2014 he graduated from the Riga Academy of Pedagogy and Educational Management with a Master's degree in Contemporary Music, in 2017 he studied at the Art Academy of Latvia for a Master's degree in Scenography, and in 2020 he received his latest Master's degree in Performing Art and Sound Art from the University of the Arts Bern. His work is presented in art galleries, experimental and improvisational music events, as well as performance and sound art festivals. Ilmārs Šterns regularly collaborates with art and music research societies, giving lectures - performances - workshops.

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