Classical precision meets raw industrial edge as Vollmaier premieres the album Error, recorded at acclaimed German studio MPS, followed by the roaring, adrenaline-fueled clash of avant-jazz titan Mats Gustafsson and accordion revolutionary Kimmo Pohjonen. This double-bill brings together three master innovators who refuse to play it safe.
FOR FANS OF: Fire!, Kronos Quartet, Nils Frahm …
Sašo Vollmaier is an acclaimed pianist, composer, and performer whose work boldly bridges classical rigor, avant-garde exploration, and industrial heritage. Grounded in classical training from the Academy of Music in Ljubljana and deeply influenced by international voice and theatre traditions, his musical style blends acoustic piano precision with contemporary electronics, raw emotional intensity, and physical presence.
An occasional keyboardist for the legendary avant-garde group Laibach and a celebrated Yamaha Artist, Vollmaier moves effortlessly between striking solo piano interpretations – such as his acclaimed album Kind of Laibach – and ambitious projects like Error. Recorded at the historic MPS Studio in Villingen-Schwenningen, Error captures Vollmaier letting each note speak for itself. Embracing the contradiction of its title, the music finds a different kind of perfection in spontaneity, vulnerability, and the unexpected, leaving room for uncertainty to become its own form of expression. At the album premiere in Kino Šiška, attendees can expect a hypnotic, virtuosic sonic journey that pushes the absolute limits of both instrument and performer.
The musical union of Swedish free-jazz titan Mats Gustafsson and Finnish accordion revolutionary Kimmo Pohjonen was such a closely guarded secret that they didn’t even know about it themselves – right up to the point where they were invited to perform together at Ljubljana’s Druga Godba festival in 2024. Gustafsson, a towering figure in avant-garde music renowned for his work with The Thing, Fire! Orchestra, and the Peter Brötzmann Tentet, brings an astonishing physical power that ranges from delicate microtones to raw sonic fury. Pohjonen, widely hailed as “the Jimi Hendrix of the accordion,” has transformed his instrument into an electrified, multi-dimensional force through live looping and custom electronics, earning global acclaim alongside elite ensembles like the Kronos Quartet and KTU.
Although coming from distinct stylistic backgrounds (folk vs. punk), these two titan figures of Nordic music share an identical creative ethos: a passion for uninhibited improvisation, collective consciousness, and art that completely refuses compromise or expectation. Bound by mutual trust, extreme physical commitment, and a readiness to take risks, their joint performance is an uncompromising collision of electrified accordion and roaring saxophone. Attuned to each other to a startling degree through decades of stage mastery, Gustafsson and Pohjonen deliver an unpredictable, adrenaline-fueled adventure into the unknown on Two Balls Are Enough, played in Slovenia for the first time – a performance that froths and boils from start to finish, offering a singular, unrepeatable experience that pushes contemporary music straight into the stratosphere.
Tickets on sale online and at Eventim outlets.
Organisation: Kino Šiška.
