Stefan Schultze

The Buchla Suite: A Handcrafted Tribute to Morton Subotnick is the latest project and sound-exploration vehicle for Stefan Schultze’s Large Ensemble. The project was inspired by Morton Subotnick’s seminal composition Silver Apples of the Moon, which was released in 1967on Nonesuch Records. The piece was written for the Buchla-100 synthesizer, which Subotnick designed in collaboration with engineer Don Buchla. The introduction of this instrument, and Subotnick’s compositions which utilised it, defined what is now considered the West-Coast style of sound synthesis. His work has had a lasting impact on generations of electronic and electroacoustic musicians.

When I first heard Silver Apples of the Moon, it captivated me in such a way that I was inspired to write a new program related to the work. I find it fascinating that this piece is as relevant today as it was when it was created! – Stefan Schultze

The Buchla Suite is an investigation into how a full ensemble might implement the functionality of a synthesizer, i.e., what it would mean to apply the logic of an oscillator, a sequencer, a filter, or chaos generator to the compositional process. Although the suite uses Silver Apples of the Moon as a touchstone and starting point, it is not a one-to-one translation of Subotnick’s opus or the result of an act of transposing electronics into an acoustic idiom. What Schultze is much more interested in than a fixed aesthetic proposition is the creation of a language that can be utilised to unlock unprecedented outcomes.

The first results of this ongoing sound research were recorded on Deutschlandfunk from September 5-9, 2022. A series of live dates at various jazz and electronica festivals followed in October 2022, culminating in two double concerts with Morton Subotnick at the Sinuston Festival Magdeburg and the Leipziger Jazztage.

Nomination:
In April 2023 the band was nominated for the German Jazz Award.

Album Release:
This fall, the double album Stefan Schultze Large Ensemble – The Buchla Suite, recorded at the Deutschlandfunk studio, will be released by Jazzwerkstatt.

HANDCRAFTED TRIBUTES FESTIVAL – 1st EDITION 2023
Music for modular synthesis, electronic resonance & handcrafted ensemble sound.

The first edition of Handcrafted Tributes celebrated the collaboration between electronic music and the Stefan Schultze Large Ensemble with Max Loderbauer, Rabih Beaini, Oxana Omelchuk, Florian Zwißler, Elena Kakaliagou, Richard Scott, Michael Vorfeld, Els Vandeweyer & Eliad Wagner from November 16–18, 2023 at Börne Studios, Berlin.

HANDCRAFTED TRIBUTES FESTIVAL – 2nd EDITION 2025
Music for glowing filaments, sound diffusion, automated keys, electric circuits & human agency.

Celebrating various angles of exchange and collaboration between guest artists and the large ensemble, the Stefan Schultze Large Ensemble hosts the second edition of its festival Handcrafted Tributes with Rabih Beaini, Werner Hasler, Liz Kosack, Tom Rainey, Michael Vorfeld & the Stefan Schultze Large Ensemble on November 14–15, 2025 at Börne Studios, Berlin-Weißensee.

Stefan Schultze’s Large Ensemble was founded around the idea of a perpetual expansion of the aesthetic and organisational principles governing a large ensemble formation. That, and an insatiable drive to produce elegantly crafted sonic artefacts. The outfit consists of a rotating cast of highly specialised instrumentalists, each with a unique voice and an idiosyncratic approach to their instrument. While seamlessly switching between linear and non-linear modalities, the hierarchical and non-hierarchical, they’ve been steadily forging new pathways – connecting dots between new music, jazz and classical; things high and low-brow, future and past. Their latest project is titled The Buchla Suite: A Handcrafted Tribute to Morton Subotnick, a formal and aesthetic exploration loosely based on Subotnick’s seminal Silver Apples of the Moon LP (1967).

Stefan Schultze’s Large Ensemble consists of: Almut Kühne (vocals), Leonhard Huhn (alto saxophone), Peter Ehwald (tenor saxophone), Magnus Schriefl (trumpet), Elena Kakaliagou (horn), Roland Neffe (marimba), Els Vandeweyer (vibraphone), Peter Meyer (electric guitar), Felix Henkelhausen (double bass), Tom Rainey / Moritz Baumgärtner (drums), Christian Heck (loudspeaker), Stefan Schultze (piano, composition).

3 days celebrating the collaboration of electronic music, modular synthesis & stefan schultze large ensemble

with max loderbauer, rabih beaini, oxana omelchuk, florian zwißler, elena kakaliagou, richard scott, michael vorfeld, els vandeweyer, eliad wagner &  stefan schultze large ensemble

16.11. artist talks, discussions and presentations

05:00 pm in conversation part 1: max loderbauer & stefan schultze large ensemble

06:00 pm in conversation part 2 florian zwißler & oxana omelchuck (organ & synthesizer)

07:00 pm in conversation part 3: richard scott & eliad wagner (modular synthesizer)

17.11. concert day 1

07:00 pm florian zwißler & oxana omelchuck (electronic organs & synthesizer)

08:00 pm richard scott (synthesizer), els vandeweyer (vib) & stefan schultze (piano)

09:00 pm rabih beaini (live-processing/ remix / electronics)

18.11. concert day 2

07:00 pm michael vorfeld (light bulbs & electronic devices) & elena kakaliagou (horn)

08:00 pm stefan schultze large ensemble & max loderbauer (modular synthesizer)

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