is a new music initiative that began in 2017 in the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. It’s core members are Vanja Schoch (voice), Nanna Ikonen (saxophone/EWI/electronics), Sarah Claman (violin) and Pau Sola (cello).

The group premiered Ikonen’s “Not I” at the Gaudeamus Muziekweek in September 2017. The work is inspired by a play of the same name by Samuel Beckett. The play is a dark and distressed monologue by a young woman whose speech is rhythmic stream of consciousness. The composition follows this aesthetic and uses Indian Karnatic rhythm techniques creating different haunting layers to support the text.

KOÄX sets itself apart with its intimate-collaboration policy, working on compositions by members of the group itself or by an artist who is implicated in the creative process leading up to and including the performance. Not I was an example of this, composed by KOÄX’ own Nanna Ikonen and demanding a high level of creative input by the whole quartet.

The group’s creative specialities are live electronics, musicality of movement, improvisation and contemporary music performance. These are our areas of expertise, to which we can add an interest in text, movement and theatricality. We therefore search out intimate-collaborations with writers, choreographers, visual artists and composers.

We cultivate a strong performance that draws audiences in and invites them to see the world from a new perspective for just a moment in time – to be enveloped in the present.