ANNA CAREWE & OLI BOTT (안나 캐루 & 올리 보트)

Anna Carewe & Oli Bott Duo: Time Travel
Cello meets Vibraphone - Classic meets Jazz

The cello and vibraphone take you on a musical journey through time from the Medieval until the present with excursions into Jazz and Improvisation. 
Compositions by Ortiz, Bach, Vivaldi, Purcell, Satie, Ellington and Piazzolla.

Anna Carewe: Violoncello
Oli Bott: Vibraphone

The duo played at festivals such as Beethovenfest Bonn and Musikfest Stuttgart and in venues such as Philharmonie Berlin and Concertgebouw Amsterdam.
2019 they released their debut CD "Timescapes" on GLM Music

"An effortless leap through the centuries: the combination of vibes and cello harmonizes marvellously." Kölnische Rundschau

 

The Berlin-based English cellist Anna Carewe first came to national attention in her home country at the age of 16 when she was a finalist in the Strings Section of the BBC’s “Young Musician of the Year” competition. In the same year, she performed Elgar’s Cello Concerto at London’s Royal Festival Hall, made her debut recording for Frankfurt Radio and began her studies at the Royal Academy of Music, studying with Florence Hooton and David Strange. Graduating with honours at the age of 20, Anna moved to Berlin to further her studies with Wolfgang Boettcher and at the Berlin Philharmonic’s Orchestral Academy. Anna subsequently became a well-known figure in the Berlin music scene as principal cellist of the Ensemble Oriol Berlin (now Kammerakademie Potsdam), one of Germany’s leading chamber orchestras.

In 2007, Anna founded the Sheridan Ensemble, which presents chamber music programmes on both period and modern instruments and has a unique line-up including theorbo, vibraphone, rock singer and dancer. The ensemble is especially well-known for its projects weaving together music from vastly differing eras and genres, from late medieval and baroque to jazz, rock, contemporary and improvisation. Concert appearances include at international venues and festivals such as the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Schwetzingen SWR Festival, Handel Festival Halle, Konzerthaus Vienna, Cadogan Hall London, Philharmonie Lodz, Helsinki Early Music and Stuttgart Music Festival and the ensemble also developed several projects for Berlin's contemporary music festival "Ultraschall". Since January 2017 the Sheridan Ensemble has had a collaboration with the world-famous RIAS-Kammerchor, taking part in several concerts in the choir's Forum series and in the first subscription concert in the choir's 70th Anniversary season, in Berlin's Philharmonie.

Anna's duo with vibraphonist Oli Bott has an important place in her life. The two musicians are continually developing programmes in which they combine composers ranging from 16th century Diego Ortiz to jazz great Duke Ellington. The duo is a popular guest at festivals and in concert series all over Germany.

Anna Carewe's reputation for innovative ideas led to her being invited to curate the "Open House" at Berlin's Pierre Boulez Saal in May 2018. In 2021 she is planning to launch a new festival in Berlin, the first of which will be under the motto: "Who’s afraid of Anton Webern?". www.annacarewe.com

 

Oli Bott studied vibraphone and composition at the Berklee College of Music in Boston with teachers such as Gary Burton and Bob Brookmeyer, graduating 'summa cum laude'.

After completing his studies, he moved to Berlin where he now works as a freelance vibraphonist and composer. The Arts Council of Berlin has been a regular supporter, awarding him both scholarships as a vibraphonist and commissions as a composer for his own jazz orchestra, which he also conducts. Oli Bott has been awarded many prizes, including the 'NDR-Musikpreis' for bigband conductors, 1st prize at the Leipzig Improvisation Competition and the Wayne Shorter Award, USA and was a prizewinner at the Europ Jazz Contest in Belgium. His concerts throughout Europe have been broadcast by TV and radio.

Oli Bott collaborates with many musicians but counts his German-Romanian world music group ZMEI3 (signed by six degrees records, San Francisco), his duo with cellist Anna Carewe and the Sheridan Ensemble (mixed-genre from Baroque classical to jazz, rock and improvisation) as his most important. With these groups, as well as as a solo artist, he has performed at numerous national and international festivals, such as the WOMAD Festival (UK), Kolkata Jazz Festival (India), European Jazz Festival Izmir (Turkey), Schwetzingen SWR Festival, Schleswig Holstein Music Festival, Beethoven Festival Bonn, WDR Jazz Festival Cologne, Handel Festival Halle, Stuttgart Music Festival, Palatia Jazzfestival, Jazz Across the Border Festival Berlin, International Jazzfestival Hamm, Jazzfestival Burghausen, Jazzfestival Würzburg, Music´n´Migration Berlin.

Since 2016, Oli has been teaching vibraphone at the Technical University Cottbus, Brandenburg and he also offers courses in improvisation as part of the Education Programme of the Berliner Philharmoniker, as well as at Berlin's Music Academy. www.olibott.com