Albin Paulus is an internationally acclaimed jew's harp world virtuoso, bagpipe player, experimental yodeller, voice acrobat, composer and pun writer, a musician full of fun and charm in his live performances, both in his music and his personality.
He explores in his new solo program "pure" the origin of the musical sound. And this exploration leads into new territory: from the voice as the most immediate expression, through the Jew's harp as an intimate sound miracle to newly created Beyond-of-this-world instruments such as the Wobblephone, including body percussion, and all without use of any overdubbing.
In an energetic one-man performance, Albin Paulus introduces listening habits absurdly in a tongue-in-cheek and entertaining way. All his musical activities are carried by an extraordinary joy of playing, which certainly also the rogue sits on the neck.
Albin, born in Germany with Austrian roots, has been playing the jew's harp and yodelling since early childhood. After classical clarinet training in Braunschweig and a study of musicology in Vienna and Cremona, he made a name for himself internationally as a jew's harp virtuoso, with the first recording of all jew's harp concerts J. G. Albrechtsberger. Albin's concert and teaching activities took him all over Europe as well as to Asia, North Africa and America; not least with HOTEL PALINDRONE and with very diverse musical projects such as the Trans European “Love Tree Ensemble” (with the Danish fiddler Harald Haugaard), as front singer of the award-winning project "Voices of Ancestors" with the band “Auli” (LV)(Zelta Mikrofons 2020).
Albin plays in numerous ensembles for "Early Music" such as "Schikaneder's youth" (A) Ensemble Baroque de Limoges (F), Musica Romana (D), Clemencic Consort (A) Concilium Musicum Vienna (A) and in theatre productions.
In 2019 Albin Paulus released his widely noticed solo album „Pur“.
SUCCESS
Concerts - Beside numerous international Jew's Harp Festivals > in Molln (AT), Tallinn (EST), in Musiekgebouw Amsterdam (NL) and in Jakutsk (Sibiria) invitations to Wiener Konzerthaus (AT), Radiokulturhaus Wien (AT - Autumn 2020), Haydnfestspiele Eisenstadt (AT), Styriarte (AT), Barocktage Stift Melk (AT), More-OHR-Less Lunz (AT), BordunMusikFest Kremsmünster (AT), Stadtcasino Basel (CH), Festival für Alte Musik Köln (DE), Bestak Palast Kairo (EGY), Cité de la Musique - La Villette Paris (FR), Festival Mozart Rovereto (IT), Festival di Musica Antica Urbino (IT), Festival di Musica Antica Biella (IT), Konzerthaus Krasnojarsk (Sibirien) etc.
Media profile - Folker 2018 (DE), Der Standard (AT), Südkurier Baden-Württemberg (DE), Franken aktuell (DE)
Awards
- Nominated for the German Record Critics' Award, listed in 2/2019 in the category “Traditional Ethnic Music”
- "World's Virtuosos of Khomus", Jakutsk/Sibiria 2011, international competion of jew's harp players (over 1000 jew's harp players from all over the world, 7 of them received together with Albin ex aequo the first price)
- "Maître sonneur": Concours de Cornemuse, St. Chartier (F) 2005 + 1997, 2. Platz
REVIEWS
"Yes, he has something ingenious. (...) Basically, the crazy creative power [of Albin Paulus] can be summed up in one word: absolute! “
(Jens Peter Müller, Folker Musikmagazin 6/2018)
"The performance of Albin Paulus was simply sensational. Our mouths were wide open! We’ll talk about it for at least another year." (concert review, Zagreb evening paper, Večernji list)
"It is an amazing soundscape made of a “Jew's harp”, bagpipe, overtone singing, wooden spoon or music box, into which the musician Albin Paulus takes you into his first solo album. Each piece is distilled to its essence (overdubs have been avoided completely ); the intensity of Albin's voice and the never-ending, urgent tones of the instruments create an immense attraction. In addition: Who has ever combined a vulture bone clarinet with smartphone sounds?"
(Album-review, Falter 22/19, Feuilleton from 29.05.2019)
"He is an outstanding performer (...). Needless to say, his performance is that of a first-rate musician." (www.antropodium.nl, CD review, Frederic Crane)
"A bridge between past and present" (CD review, Klassik.com)
"The cuckoo motif, which Albin Paulus hid with the Jew's harp in a floating swarm of bird sounds, enthralled the guests with enthusiastic applause." (Südkurier, Baden-Würtemberg)
