Newcomer of the Year 1997, Süddeutsche Zeitung
Release of a series of 11 CD’s (1996-2000) by the music distribution company Fenn Music/ Hamburg; including CD Big City – “Highly recommended” (Akustik Gitarre)
Award of the jury of the 36th German Evangelical Church Congress 2017 for Work of Orchestra 3 – an interactive work genesis, first performance: St. Elisabeth Church/ Berlin
Publication of the composition Gravur/ Gravure 1 – 10 for guitar as sheet music by Edition Margaux/ Berlin
Concert excerpt in the Dutch-Polish cinema drama Beyond Words by Urszula Antoniak – premieres at the Toronto and San Sebastian film festivals, DVD; multiple awards for the best sound and the best camera
Musical style: Abstract, emotional, narrative; Balance of interpretation, improvisation, and composition
“The orchestra arranged in an oval unfolds spatially perceptible sounds and structures with embedded improvisations that invite you to wander through the room. The work passages of individual instruments are also open to participation by the audience. Paused instruments sound again when someone approaches. The result is a concentrated one-hour composition of organic music in the now. The guitarist, improviser and composer Andreas Paolo Perger reflects the baroque unity of interpretation, improvisation and composition in contemporary forms. The recourse to the style and verve of Romanticism brings contemporary sound microscopy and spontaneity into moving narrative contexts.”
Deutscher Kulturrat (ed. 2017): Work for Orchestra 3 – An interactive work genesis, program for the 2017 Church Congress, p. 10
Press reviews
2017 “The Austrian concert guitarist Andreas Paolo Perger proves his great talent for improvisation.” Berliner Zeitung (Tips to go out – classical music)
2001 A discovery – Once again a guitarist, a real guitarero who melts into his instrument, so that the listener doesn’t know if he’s playing the guitar – or the guitar is playing him. Very individual, very original and very visionary – full of atmospheric mood. He is a real guitarrero who has no choice but to play. Walliser Bote (Jean-Pierre D’Alpaos)
2001 Heartfelt pop in a new format […] Perger, award-winning and celebrated classic, jazz musician, improviser and crossover specialist, is breaking new ground with a custom-made guitar that combines classic and electronic music. Münchner Merkur (Freia Oliv)
2000 The renowned guitarist Andreas Paolo Perger, on the other hand, proved to be a stylistic border crosser who cannot be pigeonholed in front of significantly more listeners with his own works on his bright green, acoustic-electronic instrument. Neue Ruhr Zeitung (Klaus Albrecht)
1998 Perger’s success does not come about by chance, he manages the difficult balancing act between jazz and classic, relying on the one hand on given compositions and on the other hand creating his own sound language from improvisations and his own compositions. Süddeutsche Zeitung (Helmut Mauró)
1997 For me, as he explains his mammoth project, “it’s a commitment to get to know and understand the different styles in which the guitar lives, to have worked in them, to have followed them to a certain point and, when I have the feeling that I know enough to detach myself from it again. These CDs are a kind of pool, a backpack with what I currently have and what has been on my mind”.” Süddeutsche Zeitung (Ralf Dombrowski)
1997 “Perger is able to elicit rough and unpolished tones from his instrument, as well as to enchant with lyrical playfulness and a slight tendency towards the visionary.” Jazzpodium (Jörg Konrad)
1996 A master on six strings and in all styles. Süddeutsche Zeitung (Wolfgang Farkas)
Guitarist, Improviser, Composer