Projekte & Ensembles

SR solo: cello, voice, electronics & other – Ongoing development of material for solo performances – very versatile, portable, transformable – particularly suitable for galleries, clubs, churches, concert halls and other extraordinary spaces. In its most compact form well-suited to musical collaborations with artists of other persuasions: such as the current collaborations with Timo Brunke, The Transition of the Western World, in which Scott uses the combination of a Boss RC-50 loop station and a Boss ME-50 multi-effects unit (both floor units) to augment his acoustic possibilities. He uses a combination of a DPA 4060 microphone and a Schertler STAT-C tranducer to capture the cello sound. The addition of a laptop to this mobile set-up further extends his range of possibilities beyond the cello for future developments. A solo CD is planned for 2012.

Timo Brunke / Scott Roller -  The Transition of the Western World, slam poetry and music (2011). Together, the spoken-word poet Timo Brunke and cellist/composer Scott Roller have created a program in which language becomes music and music becomes language, a virtuosic session by two artists who have found their way to one another. Der Übergang des Abendlandes is an acoustic fair made up of honest stories, wild sounds, touching confessions, intense experiments, tender moods, wily humor and daring messages. Audio samples here.

BlindDate Quartett – Free improvising quartett with Angelika Sheridan (flutes), Ulrike Stortz (violin), Scott Roller (cello) and John Hollenbeck (percussion). Their interactions are characterized by breathtaking reactions, startling combinations and simultaneities, instantaneous changes of material and textures – all in a context of concentrated and unified development, a spinning-out of complex and convincing musical forms. A CD is scheduled to be released on Red Toucan/Cactus (Montreal) in March 2012 and a German tour planned for the spring. Please contact Scott for booking. Scott has also worked with both Angelika and Ulrike in duo formations.

Theater/Dance theater projects in Stuttgart 2009/2010 - In 2010 Scott was involved both musically and as an actor in Nina Kurzeja’s dance theater production Tattoo (Tätouwierung), based on a play by Dea Loher, presented in the Theaterhaus Stuttgart. In 2009/2010 he was musically active (with Ulrike Stortz, violin and Michael Kiedaisch, percussion) in Nina’s production Aeneas Entscheidung (Aeneas’ Decision), based on Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell. In 2010, Scott also did the music and was dramtically integrated in Napoleon Raskonikow im Schnee, by TART productions (Stuttgart). Tattoo trailer with English comments here.

Helios String Quartett – Ulrike Stortz, violin;  Felix Borel, violin; Gareth Lubbe, viola/overtone singing; Scott Roller, cello. Helios SQ was formed by the string section of Ensemble >gelberklang< and many projects ran under one or the other or both names.  In the first incarnation of this group (2002-2005), Gareth played violin and Axel Porath viola. They specialised in the combination of contemporary music repertoire with free improvisation. Since 2007, Ulrike Stortz/Scott Roller have continued Helios SQ on a project basis, often with guests playing the inner voices. The old >gelberklang< website is still online (in German) and the Helios page on that site is here. CDs: Looks Like Me (2006), Farben der Stille (2003).

Ensemble >gelberklang< (Stuttgart) - Core ensemble: Albrecht Imbescheid, flute(s); Thomas Reil, clarinet(s); Ulrike Stortz, violin; Scott Roller, cello; Jürgen Kruse, piano; Michael Kiedaisch, percussion. Many chamber music and synaesthetic projects 1994-2008 and occasionally since then. Website (in German, last updated 2008) here. CDs: Farben der Stille (2003), Chamber Music by Jens Joneleit (2003), de Stad by Oscar van Dillen (2003).

Scott Fields Ensemble – Primarily recordings with various formations around the American guitarist/composer Scott Fields, based in Cologne. CDs : Frail Lumber (2011), Samuel (2009), Music for the radio program THIS AMERICAN LIFE (2008), and Beckett (2007).

Mike Svoboda Ensemble – Scott has worked with Mike Svoboda, trombonist/composer on a wide variety of projects and in many different formations (but especially “Adult Entertainment”) since 1984. CDs: Do you love Wagner? (2004), Stockhausen’s Zodiac (2003).

Collaborations with Christine Brunel (dancer/choreographer) - Scott and Christine were first brought together for a spontaneous project in Russia and intensified their work together in Essen. In 2006, they produced a show called Blicke (Gazes), made up of several different compositions, and in 2007 created a full-length production together called Speed, incorporating poetry by Robert Lax, which was presented five times in December 2007 in the Machinenhaus, Essen. Video of the first sequence of Speed, (Imprint for Ute) here.

Wolpe Trio (Essen) -  Lesley Olson, flute(s); Scott Roller, cello; Susanne Achilles, piano. Very active ensemble between 1992 and 2002, and occasionally since. Over 60 compositions by internationally acclaimed composers on both sides of the Atlantic were written for this ensemble.  Extensive work not only with pure chamber music but also with electronics and multi-media. “Historical” website remnant at: wolpetrio.de. CDs: Chamber Music by Kaija Saariaho (2004), Harmonies and Counterpoints between Germany and America (1999).

Synthese (Essen) – an ensemble for free improvisation made up of Gary Verkade, keyboards/synthesizers/computer; Matthias Geuting, piano; Scott Roller, cello/synthesizers, active 1990-1995.

BL Lacerta improvisation quartet (1980-1983, Dallas, Texas, USA) – David Anderson, flute, electronics & other; Robert Price, clarinets & other; Lesley Gay, tuba & other; Scott Roller, cello & other – a formative ensemble in Scott’s musical development, establishing once and for all a concept, a feeling, an experience of improvisation as collective interactive real-time composition.