Band

THE QUARTET

A virtuous classic violinist with a predilection for Eastern European gipsy music; a jazz violinist experienced when it comes to punk rock; an accordionist, master of improvisation, with the rhythms of the Balkans running in his blood, and a bassist who likewise feels at home be it in symphony orchestras, jazz combos, or funk bands..

Founded in 2007, Uwaga! pleasurably steps across any borderline seperating genres. By doing so, their acoustic crossover repertoire reflects the individual focus of each of the four musicians. Yet, these focuses conflated, and over the years, a very unique sound emerged somewhere in between classical music, jazz, gipsy music and modern pop.

This is what provides worldwide successes of Uwaga! for years already: Exuberant musicality and stylistic open-mindedness.

Uwaga!, meanwhile for more than ten years, refines the concerted vision of a music without borderlines. Showing undampered diligence, they create music that makes people happy, sets out directly for their hearts, and makes their legs move.

The musicians can easily hold up their enthusiasm to play, because in a world of music that has no limits, things never become boring.

The ensemble ́s multi layered sound is orchestral as well as percussive. The search for more extended ways of expression leads to encounters which max out these antipoles. One the one hand, at first in 2013, Uwaga! plays its own arrangements and compositions together with city of Essen ́s Folkwang Chamber Orchestra.

The extremely copious and successful cooperation is expanded and continued, while simultaneously, the quartet starts to play concerts together with big symphony orchestras throughout Germany. Uwaga! ́s enthusiasm ignites a spark within the orchestras immediately. This creates a most individual orchestral cross over sound, which finally, in 2016, results in a CD produced together with Dortmund Philharmonic Orchestra.

On the other hand, since 2014, Uwaga! works together with young percussionist Max Klaas. This musical globetrotter is the perfect choice for their joint play, since he converts his percussion set same as Uwaga! converts their string and keyboard instruments. A master of classical world music ́s drums instrumentation, feeling at home in the world of pop music as well, he finds his own ways to produce drum sounds of any nature on his percussion set.

Uwaga! played at festivals, in renowned concert halls and clubs such as:

Schleswig Holstein Musikfestival,

Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,

Expo Shanghai (CN),

Dajeon Cultural & Arts Center (KOR),

EBU Festival/Folk Segovia (ES),

Akkordeon Festival Wien (AT),

Jazz en Baie (FR),

Philharmonie Essen,

Grand Philharmonic Hall St Petersburg (RUS),

Konzerthaus Dortmund,

Tonhalle Düsseldorf,

Klangfeste Runkelstein (IT),

Fränkischer Sommer,

Mozartfest Chemnitz u.v.a.

Uwaga! played original compositions and arrangements together with well known

orchestras such as the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker and the Dortmunder Philharmoniker.

Christoph König violin, viola

Maurice Maurer violin

Miroslav Nisic accordion

Matthias Hacker doublebass

CHRISTOPH KÖNIG

Christoph never wanted to be pigeonholed, never wanted to be assgined to a single style of music. Thus, even before starting to study classical violin with Professor Wolfgang Rausch, he grazed all sorts of music styles, not only playing his violin, but an electric guitar as well: Punk rock, orchestral literature, jazz, klezmer, chamber music.

One thing became obvious very soon: His favorite is improvisation. Studies of jazz follow, working with star violinist Didier Lockwood in Paris and saxophonist Matthias Nadolny. Christoph´s musical execution is mould by influences from some of the most important interpreters of Gypsy swing (among them Kussi Weiss, Mario Adler, Lulo Reinhardt), as well as from modern jazz and its classical roots.

Today, Christoph feels at home on stages worldwide, and has given concerts performing together with pioneers of the jazz violin like Florin Niculescu, and the „Turtle Island Quartet", who won the Grammy twice already. Besides Uwaga!, Christoph realizes seperate projects, like jazz string quartet „Hot Club of St Pauli“ or „Christoph König Quartett“.

MAURICE MAURER

Barely 14 years old, Maurice starts studying classical violin with Professor Wolfgang Rausch. Honoured by various awards, and equipped with numerous scholarships, Maurice seems to be on a straight path to a classical violin career.

Yet, there is another, a second training, which is far less conventional: Acting as frontman of the family´s parlour trio, Maurice discovers he is qualified to be a devils´s fiddler, and he hogs the spotlight.

While going both ways, Maurice´s love for classical music on the one hand, and - inspired by Gypsy music - his way of playing the violin devoid of conventions on the other hand, never collide. During his studies, Maurics already plays in both, Gipsy bands as well as high level classical ensembles. Maurice acts as concertmaster and solo player of RIAS Youth Orchestra, performing in China´s biggest concert halls, he is award winner of Youtube´s symphony orchestra competition at Carnegie Hall, and plays routinely as temporary staff in renowned orchestras like Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Dortmund Philharmonic Orchestra.

MIROSLAV NISIC

Being four years of age only, Miroslav receives his first accordion. Henceforth, he roams the streets of his home village, singing and playing, enchanting the inhabitants. His enormous talent is discovered soon, and he is supported comprehensively. Already throughout his education, Miroslav starts practising not only Serbian folk music, but classical music as well. In both areas, he soon reaches high standards, winning numerous competitions, some of them international, among them "Citta di Castelfidardo" and „Acco Holiday“. He finds himself winning even the "Prva Harmonika – Sokobanja", Serbia´s most important traditional music competition. His first Solo CD, published soon afterwards, with Miroslav playing all instruments single-handedly, functions as a foundation for numerous concerts, which received much attention.

In order to expand further his classical repertoire, Miroslav apprenticed to renowned accordionists, like Pavel Fenyuk, Vladimir Murza, Nikolai Davidov and Janne Rättyä, and eventually starts studying with Mie-Miki at Folkwanghochschule Essen. Simultaneously, Miroslav orients towards jazz and rock as well, developing his own unique style of improvisation, thereby uniting numerous influences.

Yet, his style always lends his music a flair of the Balkans. In December 2012, being barely 20 years old, Miroslav literally becomes the youngest member of Uwaga!

MATTHIAS HACKER

From day one, Matthias learns his instrument according to crossover manner: Following the „learning by doing“ principle often found with bassists, he enters the stage joining the jazzband "Junky Jewels" only shortly after acquiring his first standup bass.

Parallel to performing gigs partly very bizarre ( one takes places on a bowling alley), Matthias is apprenticed to top class teachers for classical music, and works his way through the orchestral literature. In addition, he studies the jazz bass with Henk Haverhoek, Hans Roelofsen, and Hein van de Geyn in Arnheim.

Whether being a part of a differentiated string sound within an orchestra, or functioning as a grooving basis in jazz, soul or funk and pop bands: Matthias is absolutely aware of the fact that as a bassist he fulfills two roles completely different from each other. At numerous concerts worldwide, performing with musicians like Gitte Henning, Christoph Spendel, or Jimmy Owens, New School of Music NY scholarship holder Matthias demonstrates his musical versatileness.