Up Close and Personal
a centrifugal operetta solo (2018)

music and concept: Kaj Duncan David
space and concept: Troels Primdahl
performance: Daniel Gloger

technical management: Michael Kunitsch
fashion design: Radu Baias

Co-production of the Munich Biennale and Musik der Jahrhunderte Stuttgart

Special thanks to Penelope Wehrli and Bernadette Sonnenbichler

As a sought-after countertenor and performer, Daniel Gloger devotes himself entirely to his work. Performing in a different city every week and rarely sleeping in his own bed, he lives a nomadic lifestyle that requires absolute dedication.

The boundaries between work and private life are blurred. In order to maintain this, Daniel optimises his »ME time«: he practices meditation, tries to respect his body’s needs, takes time for relaxation exercises and broadens his intellectual horizons through literature, music and art. After all, he lives in an age in which personal and spiritual well-being can be realised even with a tight schedule thanks to a variety of intelligent solutions.

Kaj Duncan David (*1988 in Randers/Denmark) studied sound art, electronic music and (scenic) composition at Goldsmiths College London, Aarhus University of Music and Dresden University of Music from 2006 to 2016 under Simon Steen-Andersen and Manos Tsangaris, among others. He works at the intersection of notated composition, electronic music and audiovisual performance. Sound and visuals together form a musical and sensual shape. Electronic and acoustic instruments, computers, video and especially light play a central role in his compositions, which also include installations, performances, music theatre and collaborations with dance.

He works as a freelance composer and is internationally active. His work has been recognised with various grants and awards, including the Astrid of Aksel Agerbys Memorial Fund 2013, the Danish Art Fund 2017 and 2018, the Carl Nielsen and Anne Marie Carl-Nielsens Talent Prize 2018 and the Berlin Scholarship of the Akademie der Künste Berlin 2019.

Troels Primdahl (*1984 in Incheon/South Korea) studied ‘Aesthetics and Culture’ (Master of Fine Arts) at Aarhus University and ‘Installation and Conceptual Art’ at Aarhus Art Academy from 2005 to 2012. Since 2010 he has worked as a director and choreographer in interdisciplinary stage productions. His work spans dance pieces, contemporary operas, art films, performance interventions and fashion events, with a particular interest in site-specific works described as having ‘a visual simplicity paired with a certain existential restlessness’.

In 2015, he was commissioned by the Carnegie Hall-based ensemble Decoda to create his first chamber suite NIGHT IS ALSO A SUN, which was performed as a vertical concert in an airport departure lounge. In 2017, he created a large techno ballet MY ICARUS COMPLEX in a former military airfield on the Djursland peninsula. Since 2018, Troels Primdahl has been the curator of a new hybrid art space in Berlin, TRAUMA BAR UND KINO, founded by Romanian painter Adrian Ghenie.