The Bimbotown Orchestra is an on-going live music project based in Leipzig, Germany. It is unique in that the music is entirely improvised. Musicians and singers from various musical disciplines and nationalities gather to perform under the direction of Frank Koellges who uses hand-signals to conduct improvised music, a system which he began using with his Intermission Orchestra in Cologne 25 years ago. Frank Koellges conducts and performs in a very physical way, sometimes appearing like a guru, other times like a musical clown, catalyzing spontaneous performances with surprising results and challenging musicians to their limits. The music migrates through many different styles including jazz, oriental, and dance, together with keen audience participation. The orchestra comprises a regular core of ten to twenty players but can sometimes reach over forty in number. It is the namesake of Bimbotown, the club in Leipzig where the first series of performances began in 2004.

http://www.bimbotown.de/

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Whiting

Frank Koellges is a multidisciplinary musician based in Cologne. He began by playing on his father's drum kit at the age of four, attended music colleges in Graz and Cologne, and began his career by founding the Cologne Jazz Trio in 1975, and leading the Roncalli Circus Orchestra in 1979. Since then he has accomplished many large scale orchestral events - for example, opening the Documenta 1987 in Kassel with his Adam Noidlt Intermission-Orchestra, and opening Autostadt Wolfsburg "Winterlights" for Volkswagen AG, also performing with leading jazz musicians and orchestras. He has initiated many original and varied projects as well as performing solo work like Brotmaschine (breadmachine), where he tells twisted fairytales with one hand on the drum kit and the other on the keyboard. He has developed a distinctive performing style combining virtuosity with intensity and humor, which he is able to project when conducting his orchestras.

http://www.fkoellges.de

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_K%C3%B6llges

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