Over three evenings in July, the Kiezsalon inhabits the Akademie der Künste, moving between the subterranean bunker and rooftop terrace overlooking the Brandenburg Gate. On Friday, 17 July, we present Montréal-based violinist Sarah Neufeld and Berlin-based electroacoustic artist Elif Gülin Soğuksu. The program opens on Thursday, 16 July with Francesca Marongiu and Peder Simonsen, and finishes on Saturday with Limpe Fuchs & Grischa Lichtenberger and Cahl Sel.
Sarah Neufeld is a violinist and composer based in Montréal. Best known as a member of Arcade Fire, she is also a founding member of the acclaimed contemporary ensemble Bell Orchestre, and most recently formed a duo with the saxophonist Colin Stetson. On the 2024 album First Sounds she and longtime friends Richard Reed Parry and Rebecca Foon revisited their initial musical meeting in the late 1990s; according to A Closer Listen, “They have reenacted a treasured memory, and in the process have produced a new memory, glistening with a beauty all its own.”
“A composer worth seeking out” according to The Wire, Elif Gülin Soğuksu is an electroacoustic artist and researcher born in Istanbul and currently based in Berlin. Her recorded works and live performances include voice-driven live electronics and creative coding, digital processing, acousmatic music and spatial sound. When she released her debut EP Unapologetic Testimonies in July 2024, The Wire said: “The settings have a classic 1970s Ina-GRM feel in spots, but their combination of brevity and density gives the work a bit of punk flavouring that makes them even more irresistible.”
Located directly next to the Brandenburg Gate in the heart of Berlin, the Akademie der Künste at Pariser Platz is home to art presentations, documentary exhibitions, temporary installations, performances and more. At the Kiezsalon, you’re invited to move between the very top and bottom of the building — watching concerts in the bunkers and enjoying DJ sets on the rooftop terrace.
