With the Bamberg ensemble Trio Vier, a string trio has existed for some time that adds a new, impressive level to the concepts of String Quartet/Trio and Contemporary Music. Here one feels the high standards of instrumental mastery and the highly original ensemble culture: the vision of an improvising string ensemble. The musicians of Trio Vier move just as naturally on the classical concert stages of this world as they do in the clubs and at the jazz festivals of the improvisation scene.

It is no coincidence that the musical concepts and ideas of Trio Vier draw on the special structure of their home town of Bamberg in Bavaria, in particular its Garden City. For Trio Vier, Garden City is both: a proverbial city of plants, flowers, ferns, weeds and all other plants, but also an urban and social utopia. A certain dialectic is inherent in both: the plants as beloved objects of beauty and the demonized weeds, the utopia of a failing society. Trio Vier immerses itself in the world of these tensions and tells it’s stories, with emotional states and musical arcs ranging from composed, chamber-music-like string sounds to freely improvised sections.

Trio Vier has written ballet music for the Bamberg modern dance group SETanztheater, arranged compositions by Bela Bartok, improvised on texts by Franz Kafka in the context of larger ensembles, accompanied operetta evenings and, of course, played many concerts simply with their own music. Garden City Radio's concept is based on the audible pleasure of the greatest possible contrasts, of almost reckless variations in moods, texts and soundscapes.

The musicians are part of the Ventuno Chamber Orchestra and thus have lively access to palatable chamber music, e.g. by Peter Tchaikovsky or Edward Elgar's string serenades. Other influences include artists such as Caroline Shaw, John Zorn, Arcado String Trio, Gareth David, Frances Marie Uitti, Billie Eilish, yMusic and styles such as heavy metal and minimal music. Mastermind Stephan Goldbach is also one of the outstanding European double bass players in the field of jazz (Georg Ruby VILLAGE ZONE: JHM 262 & 279).