Audio Foundation presents
Alex Ventling & Phelan Burgoyne
plus
Rui Inaba & Taekyung Seo
The connection built over years of musical friendship is unmistakable in Alex and Phelan’s interaction on stage. With a vast sound-world of possible colours and textures, the duo take the space and freedom to explore and improvise together. Expect a fresh statement with European elegance.
Alex Ventling - piano, synth
Phelan Burgoyne - drums
Alexander Ventling (1994), is a Swiss pianist originally born and raised in New Zealand. After a short stay in New York after high-school, Alex received scholarship at Berklee College of Music, however decided to attend the Jazzcampus Basel. He completed his Masters degree in Jazz Piano and Music Pedagogy in August 2019, studying with many great icons of the field (Mark Turner, Jorge Rossy, Larry Grenadier, Guillermo Klein, etc). From 2020-2022, Alex set out to complete the prestigious European Jazz Masters performance program, studying at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory Copenhagen, Jazz-Institut Berlin and Trondheim NTNU Jazzlinja. The exposure and network Alex gained in Switzerland, Germany and Scandinavia, led him to become a successful freelancer in the European jazz scene.
Alex has established his personal sound as a contemporary pianist through his sophisticated, yet warmly organic compositions and playing style. His attention to detail and tasteful decisions continue to nourish a sensitive expression through the instrument. His playing has been described as poetic and refreshing.
Alex is currently leading multiple projects, ‘Alex Ventling & Phelan Burgoyne’, ’Alex Ventling WAVEMAKERS’, ‘KOHERU’ as well as working as an active Side-Man. He released the 'Alex & The Wavemakers EP' in 2018 and the duo album ‘In Orbit’, with renowned Norwegian improviser and guitarist Hein Westgaard in 2022. Alex’s passion of compositional practices in these projects, continuously helps to free himself from his musical horizons.
Attending the New York Film Academy in NYC in 2013, Alex is still an active filmmaker for his and other’s projects, having directed successful music videos and audio-visual content for local artists, having been featured in international film festivals.
Alex also practices Vipassana meditation daily, having sat numerous courses (in the teachings of S.N. Goenka). His Master thesis, 'Response Over Reaction – the connection and adaptation of Vipassana meditation to improvised music', continues to influence his musical practice and teaching.
Phelan Burgoyne (1994) is a British drummer and composer based in Florence, Italy. Born into an artistic family, he grew up playing Rock, Jazz and Classical percussion in the cultural county of Suffolk on the east coast of England. At age sixteen he moved to London where he was accepted on a full scholarship to the prestigious Purcell school for young musicians and went on to attain a first class degree from the Royal Academy of Music, London (where he studied with Martin France and Jeff Williams) and took part in the Erasmus exchange programme at the Jazzcampus, Basel, Switzerland (where he was taught by Jeff Ballard and Larry Grenadier).
In the years since graduating, Burgoyne has gained an international reputation touring across the U.K, Europe and beyond, releasing a plethora of critically acclaimed albums as a leader and co-leader; Unquiet Quiet (2015) and Verdasio (2019) with his trio featuring veteran British saxophonist Martin Speake and rising star guitarist Rob Luft, Introducing REBOP (2018) and Live at Veganz n' Roses (2019) an Anglo-German quintet featuring legend Jorge Rossy on vibraphone, Divertimento (2018) in duo with Italian ECM artist pianist Emanuele Maniscalco, and On Thursday (2020) in trio featuring Danish bass veteran Anders Christensen both on the Berlin based HOUT label. In 2021
Burgoyne curated and produced Yazgol - the previously unrecorded compositions of Paul Motian featuring special guests Larry Grenadier, Tal Yahalom and Nicolas Masson and released a new home recordings entitled The Grain (2021) featuring James Kitchman, Jakub Cywinski and Zac Gvirtzman.
Most recently Burgoyne completed a series of recordings entitled Frescoes featuring Kit Downes, Emanuele Maniscalco, Sam Braysher, Tom Challenger, Xaver Rüegg and Fabien Ianonne which will be released in instalments on the new Zürich based record label 8004
As a sideman, recent projects include; Kit Downes' Dreamlife of Debris, The Yumi Ito Orchestra, The Francois Lana Trio, Ursula Bachmann's Bewildered Heart. Outside of Jazz, Burgoyne studies the Rubāb; a traditional lute from Afghanistan with Professor John Baily and Ustad Daud Khan Sadozai and the Tabla with Sri Subhajit Brahmachari.
