DUO OXYMORON — oppo­si­tes attract 

From the very first moment Anna Stein­kog­ler and Valen­tin Butt made music tog­e­ther, they felt a strong musi­cal bond, and the exci­ting desi­re to crea­te some­thing powerful, enthr­al­ling and inten­se­ly emo­tio­nal tog­e­ther. The jux­ta­po­si­ti­on of their instru­ments — harp and accor­di­on — has never felt like ant­ago­nisms, on the con­tra­ry, they attract each other. Their name says it all: OXYMORON. 

Life is an oxy­mo­ron…
… becau­se life is not per­fect and never will be. The­re is no such thing as an exis­tence wit­hout con­tra­dic­tions, fric­tion and ambi­guous­ness. This oxy­mo­ron is the source of all crea­ti­vi­ty in humankind. 

Anna Stein­kog­ler and Valen­tin Butt want their music to media­te bet­ween tho­se extre­mes and to inter­con­nect. Trans­forming con­tra­dic­tions into ele­gan­ce, into magi­cal moments, “making it work” is what makes music worth being heard. 

DUO OXYMORON is all about exch­an­ge, an offer for dia­lo­gue — which both musi­ci­ans are con­vin­ced is more nee­ded than ever. Dia­lo­gue as a way of life, not only on stage. 

New aes­the­tics loo­king for new musi­cal language

True musi­ci­an­ship and dedi­ca­ti­on are the keys to Steinkogler’s and Butt’s own com­pel­ling arran­ge­ments. The con­tras­ting per­so­na­li­ties of both musi­ci­ans and instru­ments seem to blend into each other on stage, while main­tai­ning their extre­me posi­ti­ons. Their music is an orga­nic and refres­hing take on the encoun­ter of the well-known and the new-found.

With their own com­po­si­ti­ons, DUO OXYMORON explo­res and expands their aes­the­tics. The lack of musi­cal tra­di­ti­ons or role models for their uncom­mon instru­men­ta­ti­on allows Anna Stein­kog­ler and Valen­tin Butt to deve­lop their own indi­vi­du­al musi­cal language.

“If I had a world of my own, ever­y­thing would be non­sen­se. Not­hing would be what it is becau­se ever­y­thing would be what it isn’t. And con­tra­ry wise, what is, it wouldn’t be. And what it wouldn’t be, it would. You see?” — Lewis Carroll