My current project is the duo Novi Munk (punk) with the Iranian-Kurdish tar player and composer Peyman Sulehyman, who, like me, lives in Berlin. We are currently developing a repertoire that ranges from our own compositions to traditional tangos and works by Astor Piazzolla, as well as Kurdish folk music and improvisations in various maqams.

Our debut will take place in Berlin in February 2027. A concert tour through Italy, Germany, France, Belgium, and Switzerland is planned for the summer of 2027.

An important project is the Duo La Luna with Dutch guitarist Rob Bangert, with whom I recorded 3 CD’s between 2020-2024, see also: www.duolaluna.com

I was still studying at the Rotterdam Conservatory when one day the phone rang: “Would you like to play in my tango quintet?” “I’d like that,” I say, “but unfortunately I can’t play properly yet!” “It doesn’t matter,” answers Rob, “as long as you’re involved!”

That’s how Helena and Rob met in 1995. Since then they have developed countless musical adventures together. Since 2018, Helena and Rob have mainly played together as a duo. Since the moon often inspires them with its suggestive charisma for their projects, they call themselves “Duo La Luna”. The two want to offer their audience more than a simple standard concert program. That is why they combine their play with other art forms such as poetry, storytelling, film, theater and dance.Their recent concert program “Nostalghia”, which premiered in southern France in August 2020, is also an interplay of text and music. The central theme is the story of a mysterious Hungarian immigrant who discovers the world of milongueros and tangueros (tango dancers and tango enthusiasts) in Buenos Aires in the early 20th century. Embedded in this background story are traditional tangos, own newly composed pieces and two compositions written by famous Argentinian guitarists for the duo la luna. Most of the compositions from “Nostalghia” are on our CD, which was released in 2021.”Esfahania” was released in January 2022. On this CD the Duo La Luna is supported by Mischa Pfeiffer, viola and Winfried Holzenkamp, ​​double bass. Their repertoire consists of traditional tangos in new arrangements, their own newly composed pieces and compositions commissioned by young Argentinian composers. Our third CD is Reflejos which we recorded with an ukranian string quartet and released in 2024.

Since about 15 years I’m playing with the german violist Mischa Pfeiffer. Mischa is member of the WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne and professor at the Musikhochschule Aachen.

 

“From Bach to Piazzolla” is the name of our CD we recorded in 2015 with Mischa and his former string quartet Vela. We create an inspiring dialogue between multifaceted bandoneon playing and dark viola timbre and dare to connect classics by Johan Sebastian Bach, Franz Schubert, Kurt Weill, Bela Bartok and contemporary tangos by Rodolfo Mederos, Juan José Mosalini and Astor Piazzolla.