Artists

ALMA came into being in 2011. Since then they have been playfully combining down-to-earth folk music ...

ALMA came into being in 2011. Since then they have been playfully combining down-to-earth folk music with complex arrangements. They play a music that comes directly from the soul and aims at the public's own sleeping roots.

ALMA's music triggers emotions. It crosses borders, not breaking musical traditions, but enhancing them. “Ländler” and polkas, yodelers and waltzes, bourrées and musettes come to life side by side. Everything; be it joy, happiness, or melancholy, is there. 

Julia, Matteo, Marlene, Evelyn and Marie-Theres are, without disguising themselves, throwing a modern veil over traditional folk music. Playing violin, upright bass and accordeon, they sing and yodel, elated and humorous, lyrical and doleful.

They released their fourth studio album and at the same time winter program Cherubim in 2019. To celebrate their 10 years band anniversary, ALMA created a unique program called Furo:re, which will be presented in spring 2021.

SUCCESS

Concerts - Folkbaltica (D/DK), European Broadcast Union Festival 2014 Rättvik/SE,  Wiener Musikverein, Konzerhaus Wien, Porgy & Bess Jazzclub Vienna, Konzerthaus Wien, Jazzfestival Saalfelden, Festival de Alturas in Peru, etc ...

Awards

• GERMAN RECORD CRITICS AWARD - Winner of listed albums 4/2017 in the category "Traditionelle ethnische Musik"
• GERMAN WORLD MUSIC AWARD "Rudolstadt-Festival RUTH" 2017
• AUSTRIAN WORLD MUSIC AWARD 2015 - second prize

REVIEWS

" Fly, dear soul, fly... Five musicians from Austria, four women and a man, are letting their souls (in Spanish: almas) fly free and cross musical borders. Their backgrounds in Jazz, folk and classical music serve as a starting point for delightful experimentations. “You have to have roots to be able to improvise” believes Alma. Their music is Alpine and Transalpine, lyrical and lively, intelligent and entertaining, and blows a wonderful refreshing new breeze on the (string) music from Central Europe. Musica con alma y vida, music with heart and soul. In any musical language, that is praiseworthy." (Jury German World Music Award "Rudolstadt-Festival RUTH" 2017)

" [...] If there ever was a need to prove the high quality of this formation, „Transalpin“ delivers the evidence in the most beautiful and impressive manner. ALMA’s music stuns with its very own fascinating character that can carry you away, touch, entertain, and challenge you – all at the same time."
(austrian music export 06/05/2015)

" [...] Defying my expectations of 'folk', Nativa really is a wonderful album, a psychogeographic trip through the Austrian countryside, its extensive musical traditions and beyond. There is, of course, a sort of ripe crudeness about some of the numbers, bringing the pungency of the meadows to your speakers, yet the playing is always top-notch, with Bachian poise one minute and jam-like abandon the next. This is truly one of the most original soundworlds I've encountered of late."
(Gavin Plumley, www.entartetemusik.blogspot.co.at, UK)

" Alma are casual, but not careless. Cool, but not cold. They are smart, but not intellectual, emotional, but not sentimental, virtuoso musicians, certainly, but without the urge to constantly show off their skill. When they do, they do it with a twinkle in their eye. In their music, tradition, improvisation and innovation are merged into something new, something very much alive. " (René Freund, booklet ALMA Nativa)

LINEUP

Julia Lacherstorfer - violin, vocals
Evelyn Mair - violin, vocals
Matteo Haitzmann - violin, vocals
Marie-Theres Stickler – diatonic button accordion, vocals
Marlene Lacherstorfer - double bass, vocals

HOMEPAGE

http://www.almamusik.at

TERRITORIES

Weltweit, in Deutschland in Kooperation mit www.trikont.de