Bird of Paradise – Album
Bird of paradise (2024)
Nimikry, a duo consisting of Alessandro Baticci (flute) and Rafał Zalech (viola), combines acoustic instruments with modern live electronics. Their work explores the symbiosis between traditional music and digital technology, transforming conventional instruments into “smart” ones. Using their custom-built system, DigitAize, they create immersive performances where sound and physical movement merge seamlessly. Filled with spontaneity and dynamic rhythms, their pieces evoke an uncanny yet captivating atmosphere, drawing from genres such as EDM, noise and classical music. Through this co-evolution of performer and technology, Nimikry redefines musical expression, blurring the boundaries between human and machine.
www.kairos-music.com
- Rhizomatic Studies (2023)
For ensemble, augmented instruments and electronics
2-8. Narcomancy (2018/19)
For amplified flutes, digital viola and electronics (Condensed version)
Intro – Induline (0:00)
I. Luminescent Eye (0:16)
II. Recursive Dream (5:36)
III. Granular Perception (10:35)
IV. Fast Forward (13:54)
V. Marcia – Malachite (19:29)
VI. Narcomancy I – Plutonium (23:20)
9. Bird of Paradise (2020/21)
Concerto grosso for ensemble and digitalized strings
Listen to Bird of Paradise on all platforms:
Info about tracks:
Rhizomatic Studies: Live recording at Wiener Konzerthaus, Mozart-Saal
- November 2024
Judith Fliedl (digital violin)
Wendy VoCong Tri (digital flute)
Klangforum Wien
Johannes Kalitzke
Rafał Zalech & Alessandro Baticci, live electronics
Markus Wallner, sound design
Narcomancy: Live recording at Porgy & Bess in Vienna
10.01.2019
Alessandro Baticci, flutes & electronics
Rafał Zalech, digital viola & electronics
Gerald Domyan, sound engineer
Wolfgang Racher, recording engineer
Bird of Paradise: Live recording at Wiener Konzerthaus, Mozart-Saal
- March 2022
Klangforum Wien
Bas Wiegers
Alessandro Baticci, live electronics
Markus Wallner, sound design
Nimikry Bio:
Behind Nimikry are the composer and flutist Alessandro Baticci and the composer, violist and inventor Rafal Zalech. Rather than ignoring classical instruments, the duo attempts to expand their potential, with the help of innovative technologies, utilising them in new ways. The band penetrates the boundaries of contemporary composition, tying in improvisation, experimental electronics, and noise. Behind this is the effort to use a broad spectrum of progressive trends. The original instrument is always, however, front and centre in the duo’s energetic performances. Inventiveness and the efforts to expand sonorous languages without forgoing classical instrumental performance are proof of the consistent quest for new paths. (MICA)
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@nimikry
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/nimikry
About Rafał Zalech:
Polish violist, composer, and inventor Rafał Dominik Zalech, born in Wrocław in 1988, studied viola and electroacoustic composition at the University of Music in Vienna, Yale University, and in Wrocław. From 2012 to 2021, he collaborated with the renowned Klangforum Wien, participating in numerous albums and global concerts. Currently, he is a member of the Vienna-based Black Page Orchestra and co-member of Duo Nimikry and Duo van Vliet.
Zalech’s research on digitizing gestures on string instruments led to an international patent, now used by Digitaize Smart Music Instruments, a company he co-founded. He frequently performs at major new music festivals, including Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Wien Modern, and Ultrasonic Berlin, and has given guest lectures and workshops at institutions like Teatro Colon Academy in Buenos Aires and the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow.
His solo debut at the Vienna Konzerthaus with Grisey’s “Les espaces Acoustiques” in 2017 received acclaim, as did his performance of the same piece at the Warsaw Autumn opening concert in 2022. Zalech’s scientific work focuses on electronic support for classical instruments, aiming to blend various musical styles and create a unique dialogue with the audience.
Zalech has received numerous scholarships, including those from the Ministry of Culture in Austria, The Thyll-Dürr Foundation, and the Austrian Federal Chancellery. In 2022, his duo Nimikry was awarded with the prestigious Erste Bank Komposition Preis for lifetime artistic achievements.
Website: www.zalech.com
Youtube: www.youtube.com/@rafalzalech
IG: www.instagram.com/zalechowsky
About Alessandro Baticci:
Alessandro Baticci (Milan, 1991) works at the interception of music and technology.
As a composer, flautist and electroacoustic performer, Alessandro is active internationally in the field of contemporary music and sound art. Alessandro is also serial entrepreneur, inventor and product designer. He developed various electro-acoustical instruments, digital control and mapping systems, sound libraries, as well as sound and ergonomic solutions for acoustic instruments. Alessandro holds lectures and workshops in various universities across the world. He pursued studies in composition, flute, sound engineering as well as multimedia art in Milan, Vienna and Graz.
Alessandro is a Luzern Festival Academy Alumnus, fellow of Akademie Musiktheater heute by the Deutsche Bank Stiftung and Fellow of the Bogliasco Foundation (2022). His work has been rewarded with prestigious awards, such as the Staats-Stipendium of the Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport (2021), the Publicity Award of the SKE Cultural Sponsorship (2022), the Theodor Körner Prize (2022) and the ERSTE Bank Composition Award (2023).
Alessandro is founding member of The Black Page Orchestra, as well as co-founder of the composer-performer duo Nimikry. His recent compositions include commissions for Lucerne Festival, Ensemble Modern, Klangforum Wien, Staatsoper Stuttgart and Ensemble Phace.
IG: https://www.instagram.com/ale_baticci/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@abaticci
Website: www.alessandrobaticci.com