My current project is DUO LA LUNA with Dutch guitarist Rob Bangert, 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.
Her most 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.
FROM BACH TO PIAZZOLLA
is the name of an older project with the violist Mischa Pfeiffer, who plays with the WDR Symphony Orchestra.
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.