Communication between two people – musical communication above all – is the focus of the duo formed by clarinettist Lori Freedman and vocalist Vesna Pisarović. Pisarović’s musical language encompasses jazz vocabulary and extended vocal techniques, while Freedman’s music is shaped by the idioms of twentieth-century composition, alongside her own distinctive performance techniques on the bass clarinet.
During a week-long artistic residency at KONTEJNER, the two musicians will, through a process of mutual musical exploration, seek to establish a shared musical vocabulary for their newly formed duo. Beginning with joint performance, listening, conversation, performing, recording, listening, performing, conversing, listening, analysing… they will gradually develop not only a new vocabulary, but also an understanding of what they are striving to communicate through sound – both to one another and to their listeners.
The residency will conclude with a concert by Lori Freedman and Vesna Pisarović, taking place as part of the programme Sound Dialogues on 3 October 2025 at 8 p.m. at KONTEJNER (Odranska 1/1).
The artistic residency is part of the project New Perspectives for Action, under Re-Imagine Europe, co-financed by the European Union, while Lori Freedman’s European tour is co-financed by the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. The Sound Dialogues programme is part of the project Performances at KONTEJNER, co-financed by the City of Zagreb and the Ministry of Culture and Media.
Lori Freedman (CA)
Lori Freedman (CA) is a 21-century clarinet player. She tours extensively, often sporting 3 or 4 instruments at a time, including the contrabass, bass, B-flat and E-flat clarinets. Continuing to draw from a unique and impressive array of works from the contemporary repertoire Freedman is equally at home performing her own improvisations and compositions as well as music written by other musicians, often specifically for her. Both on stage and in the recording studio, Freedman delivers astonishing poetry to written and improvised music in the versatile roles as accapella soloist, featured soloist with ensemble, and as ensemble player. Her own catalogue of works written for a variety of instrumental combinations grows steadily and, in addition to this already full schedule, Freedman also coaches contemporary and improvised music to all instrumentalists and vocalists alike.
Vesna Pisarović (HR)
Vesna Pisarović (HR) was for almost a decade mainly a renowned singer of popular music in Croatia and other countries of the former Yugoslavia. Since a dramatic turn in her professional career, and an opening towards the jazz and improvised music idioms she has collaborated with many artists, including Greg Cohen, Tony Buck, Chris Abrahams, Noel Akchoté, Joe Fonda, John Betsch, Axel Dörner, Zlatko Kaučič, Gerhard Gschlößl, Zeno de Rossi, Dieb 13, Gebhard Ullmann, Tristan Honsinger, Tobias Delius, Francesco Bigoni, Giorgio Pacorig, Martin Sasse, Wolfgang Schmidtke, Frederick Köster, Clayton Thomas, Steve Heather, Jan Roder and many others. She currently lives and works between Zagreb and Berlin.
