onQ plays the Music of Stepan Flagar feat. Ben Wendel & Philip Dizack

onQ is once again breaking new ground. After the original concept of the festival, which emerged in 2020 from the Corona pandemic and has been continually developed further in recent years, a new, polished profile is now emerging: onQ, more than ever, puts instrumentalists and composers completely at the center, is entirely dedicated to their work and offers them a platform to present new music and realize their musical ideas and ideas.

On October 6th, the extremely busy and virtuoso Czech saxophonist and composer Stepan Flagar, who has lived in Austria since 2014, will focus on exclusive, new music from his pen. In recent years he has been able to leave a big mark on the Austrian and European jazz scene with, among others, Purple is the Color, Ralph Mothwurf Orchestra, onQ, Tobias Vedovelli Surround and Shake Stew - both as an instrumentalist and as a composer, for example with his breathtaking concert for Saxophone and symphony orchestra.

As if that wasn't enough, we were able to win two absolute top stars from the USA as guest soloists: Ben Wendel and Philip Dizack.

Ben Wendel, once known as a founding member of the Grammy-nominated band “Kneebody”, is one of the most sought-after, hippest and most virtuosic saxophonists and bassoonists on the international jazz scene. The list of musicians he works for and with reads like an absolute “Who’s Who” of the modern jazz scene.

In recent years, Philip Dizack has made such an impact on the international jazz scene as very few other representatives of his instrument. Whether this concerns his own music in a quartet with Joe Sanders and Eric Harland or Immanuel Wilkins, or his current work in the Shai Maestro Quartet - what Philip Dizack is doing on the trumpet is far removed from much of what he has heard before.

Stepan Flagar about the evening and the program:
I was able to take part in onQ for the first time in 2021 and was amazed from the very first moment what kind of team of people was behind it. In 2022 I was able to present a piece I had written and when Tobias Vedovelli suggested to me in 2023 that I create a whole program for onQ in autumn 2023, I was absolutely thrilled and accepted the offer with great excitement.

I am extremely honored to be able to write music for this onQ Ensemble, which will be performed by this stunning band and the most amazing guests Ben Wendel and Philip Dizack.

1st set
These pieces have been created in recent years. Pieces from the lockdown period, before and after, composed for various musical occasions or just written down on a piece of paper. With small adaptations and changes in the arrangement, I chose these pieces for the first set and am excited to perform them with this fantastic core cast: Patricija Skof, Stepan Flagar, David Soyza, Michael Tiefenbacher, Tobias Vedovelli & Matheus Jardim.

2nd Set - Suite “For you…”
A suite of pieces that I composed specifically for this evening. “For you…” can be understood as meaning a person, an animal, an object or even an abstract phenomenon. I wanted to write music that was for everyone. Music that is for everything. Music that can be for the water today and for the fire tomorrow. Music that is here and stays here. Keith Jarrett once said: “Music is not something you can use words to describe… Music cannot be expressed or delivered in words.” Since these sentences resonate so strongly with me, there is nothing left but to let the music play and hope that it ends up where it is needed and makes a difference. (onQ, Stepan Flagar)

Program and cast

Ben Wendel: reeds
Philip Dizack: trumpet
Stepan Flagar: compositions

Patricija Skof: vocals
Joanna Lewis, Anne Harvey-Nagl: violins
Simon Schellnegger: viola
Maria Frodl: cello
Thomas Frey: flute
Clemens Salesny, Stepan Flagar: reeds
David Soyza: vibraphone
Michael Tiefenbacher: keyboards
Tobias Vedovelli: bass
Matheus Jardim: drums