UMS'nJIP (voice, flutes, electronics & visuals) is the most popular Swiss duo in the field of contemporary music.
Works by Mathias Steinauer and Franz Schubert, plus Chansons populaires du Haut-Valais (Traditional Swiss music in new arrangements by UMS'nJIP)
UMS'nJIP are a Swiss contemporary music duo based in Münster (Valais/Switzerland) at the foot of the Finsteraarhorn and the Rhone Glacier, consisting of Ulrike Mayer-Spohn (UMS) on recorders & electronics and Javier Hagen (JIP), voice & electronics.
One of the most experienced and distinguished contemporary music laboratories of our times, they work as composers, performers and organizers within a global network of composers, visual artists, stage directors, researchers, universities and festivals. Their special interest in long term collaboration, with its exchange of knowledge and awareness, brings context to new creations and results in an outstanding increase of artistic content. In this manner, UMS'nJIP explore new settings for voice, recorders and electronics, ranging from live to digital performance in concert, scenic or installative formats and often integrate European as well as non-European music.
UMS'nJIP have been invited to perform at prestigious contemporary music festivals around the world including Zürich, Lucerne, Donaueschingen, Stuttgart, Berlin, Paris, Venice, Barcelona, Athens, Istanbul, Cairo, Moscow, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tongyeong, Tokyo, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, and New York. They have premiered hundreds of works, collaborating with both world famous and aspiring young composers such as Heiner Goebbels, Wolfgang Rihm, Mauricio Kagel, Jennifer Walshe, Wolfgang Mitterer, Erik Oña, Luis Codera Puzo, Chikashi Miyama, Du Yun, Huang Ruo and Guo Wenjing. They can look back on more than 1400 concerts since their debut in 2007 and are one of the most active contemporary music ensembles worldwide, bringing both young and established works not only to famous venues but also to audiences who do not have easy access to live performances of top quality contemporary music.
Both individually and as a duo UMS and JIP have received numerous commissions and awards and have been invited to share their knowledge in renowned universities in Europe, America and Asia. JIP is also the director of the Swiss Contemporary Music Festival Forum Wallis, served ISCM Switzerland's board (2012-24, president 2014-24) as well as the boards of the European Conference of Promoters of New Music ECPNM (2014-18), the Swiss Music Edition, and of the UNESCO Commission for the Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Canton of Valais (2009-18). Since 2013 UMS has been pioneering two research projects: Recorder Map and Recorderology, and the duo has been invited to act as experts in the European Union's FP7 i-Treasures project.
