FABIANA STRIFFLER & KARSTEN HOCHAPFEL
La Plume Du Dimanche is the title of the first album by Berlin violinist Fabiana Striffler and Parisian cellist Karsten Hochapfel. The two musicians share a passion for improvisation, psychedelic folk, jazz, experimental music, but also for simple songs and the beauty of melody.
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“Their music manages to charm without pushing prettiness…” Citizen Jazz
“…Their origin is never far away, however, as I hear echoes of Bartók, Stravinsky, and Schönberg in their inventions, where horsehair rubs against metal and fingers pluck the strings, making the wooden bodies that house enigmatic souls resonate. And they dance. Yes, they dance. Their virtuosity does not need to be ostentatiously displayed to draw us into the meanderings of our wandering minds. Their talent for improvisation has something to do with it. She and he enjoy this extraordinary freedom that allows them to take the tangent and appropriate the rule and the exception with humor or seriousness. We too dance from one foot to the other. When the music finally stops, we suddenly realize that we have traveled far, very far, without noticing. The bows have shot their arrows, and touching our hearts, they awaken our desires and give birth to our passions…” Mediapart, Jean-Jacques Birgé (FR)
“…This hymnal compendium of astonishing momentary memories is a masterpiece of fleeting profundity that begs to be heard again and again.” Jazzthing, Wolf Kampmann
La Plume Du Dimanche is the title of the first album by Berlin violinist Fabiana Striffler and Parisian cellist Karsten Hochapfel. The two musicians share a passion for improvisation, psychedelic folk, jazz, experimental music, but also for simple songs and the beauty of melody. In “La Plume Du Dimanche,” the two musicians move almost carefree and intuitively outside of classical patterns, searching for a common form of expression without getting caught up in the centuries-old high culture of their respective instruments. They are interested in unconventional approaches to questions of a musical and social nature. The internationally established duo experiences music as life energy, as a playground, as a place of new discoveries, and as an opportunity to experience and facilitate encounters. In 2022, the violinist moved to Paris for six months. The duo formed during this time is currently working on their second release.
Fabiana Striffler is a German violinist and composer who was nominated for the German Jazz Award in 2022 and 2025. In 2021, she released her third album, Archiotíc: “More consistent than ever, she crosses stylistic boundaries, allowing virtuosity and humor to dance around each other in her compositions and performances in a rarely heard way,” says Deutschlandfunk Kultur. Radio Bremen Zwei describes her as one of the “most sought-after violinists in German jazz and pop.”
Karsten Hochapfel is an instrumentalist, arranger, and composer in the trio The Archetypal Syndicate (trance rock), Odeia (Songs of the World), and La Cosmologie de la Poire (music from an imaginary world). He also plays cello and/or guitar in various groups: Le Cri du Caire (Victoire du Jazz 2023), Matthieu Donarier’s Bestiare, Louise Jallu’s 4tet/5tet/6tet, Naissam Jalal & the Rhythms of Resistance.