Michael Rauter, born 1980 in Basel, is a Berlin based music theatre maker, composer, performer and cellist. He studied Cello and chamber music in Aachen and Berlin. In 2006 he founded the music theatre group Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop and was its artistic director until 2016. Since 2018, he is fellow of the program #bebeethoven, a project of the PODIUM Foundation Esslingen. As part of this program, he collaborates with Operadagen Rotterdam from 2018-2020.
FACTS:
1: Kuku. (Bob)
2: A man with a stupid face ate an apricot and died. (Daniil Charms)
3: Forscher filmen „kopfloses Hühner-Monster“. In der Antarktis (BILD.de)
QUESTIONS:
1. What is the biggest inspiration for your music?
Everybody and everything around me.
2. How and when did you get into making music?
I make music since I can remember, so my parents send me to music school. Since I can remember I never was satisfied with listening only, I wanted to make music myself. Later I was lucky to have had many people around me that showed me the endless possibilities and diversity.
3. What are 5 of your favourite albums of all time?
Scott Walker – Bish Bosch
Scott Walker – The Drift
Supertramp – Crime of the Century
Iannis Xenakis – Oresteia
Menace Ruine – Cult of Ruins
4. What do you associate with Berlin?
Home. And having a hard time paying with a 50€ bill in the bus.
5. What’s your favourite place in your town?
The cemetery at Südstern.
6. If there was no music in the world, what would you do instead?
That would mean no sound at all which would mean no air to breath which would mean no life possible at all which would mean that I wouldn’t be there either. So I don’t know.
7. What was the last record/music you bought?
Amnesia Scanner – Another Life
8. Who would you most like to collaborate with?
Too much enjoying all my past and current collaborations to think about that.
9. What was your best gig (as performer or spectator)?
Too hard to choose. Two examples of really good ones. As a performer: with the amazing colleagues of „Omöohhhno pahtuuontudonthose“ in Café Oto, London 2015. As a spectator: Peaches and Chilly Gonzales in Studio 672 in Cologne in 2001 or 02.
10. How important is technology to your creative process?
Important. I’m using computers and shit!
11. Do you have siblings and how do they feel about your career/art?
Three and they support me.
On 17th & 18th November 2018, Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop performs Michael Rauter’s and Luigi De Angelis’ SERGE, an interdisciplinary composition inspired by the visionary Russian impresario Sergey Diaghilev, at Radialsystem.
Photo © Katya Abramkina
