TrioColores

When Matthias Kessler (born 1997), Luca Staffelbach (born 1996) and Fabian Ziegler (born 1995) perform works by French composers, they use a maximum of two marimbas, three vibraphones and two glockenspiels – sometimes more, sometimes less. The three Swiss and Austrian musicians have worked for five years on developing their cd debut. Their common thread: a great passion for exploring the boundless possibilities of percussion instruments. The path to this was opened for the three young musicians by their bachelor's degree from the Zurich University of the Arts, in which from the beginning the entire spectrum of instrumental possibilities was equally represented – not only the great diversity of drums and other percussion, but also the so-called "mallet instruments". Mallet means stick – marimbas and vibraphones are usually played with two in each hand. In this way, the percussion instrument transcends its role as a purely rhythmic instrument and emancipates itself into a fully-fledged, melodic and evocative instrument. Mallet ensembles have meanwhile established themselves as a very popular genre in competitions and concerts. Matthias Kessler, Luca Staffelbach and Fabian Ziegler harvest enthusiastic acclaim at their concerts, where the audience is consistently impressed by the diversity of instruments. Apart from the enormous wealth of sounds, the remarkable synchronicity of this young trio is astounding. Everything often sounds as if it is being played by a single instrument. The three young musicians hope for a more natural and accepted experience of this instrumentation. They believe that the focus in the future should shift from a spectacular, exotic status to musical quality and depth: "We hope that in five or ten years people will leave a concert with marimbas and vibraphones with the same appreciation as a piano recital, and not just say: 'That was a great show'", Matthias explains, while sketching their vision for the future. And this cd debut is meant to reinforce that vision.