Jasper & Jasper was founded in 2009 when Jasper Braet and Jasper Vanpaemel met during their sonology training in The Hague. They both shared a passion for experimentation and adventure, started as free improvisors and evolved into performers and composers of contemporary music. Recently they cooperated in several multidisciplinary collectives. Their aesthetic profile is unique: starting from their experience with traditional instruments they develop the physical and tangible aspects of their custom built electronic instruments (eg the now famous quakea’s). Due to their unusual and surprising approach Jasper & Jasper creates blank expectations among the public (and among themselves …) in which tension, curiosity, sound, image, theater, humor, dance and movement contribute to an intense concert experience. Jasper and Jasper has (been) performed in various environments such as TRANSIT festival STUK Louvain, Flagey Brussels, Logos Tetrahedron Ghent, City University London, De Bijloke Ghent, Caféteatret Oslo, Bozar Brussels, Handelsbeurs Ghent, M HKA Antwerp, Concertgebouw Bruges, deSingel Antwerp, KonCon The Hague,.. Today, the duo is working on a full-length show which may already be seen as a synthesis of their recent projects. Jasper & Jasper is also active in the field of education where a growing audience with great interest in the duo learns to know and experience their instruments and electronics. In collaboration with MATRIX and Musica, they regularly organize workshops focusing on new media and sound.
J & J
Jasper Braet (1986) studied classical and contemporary guitar at the Conservatory of Ghent (Belgium). His teacher was Tom Pauwels, guitarist and artistic advisor of the ensemble Ictus, based in Brussels. During his studies he became increasingly interested in electro-acoustic music. In this context he studied algorithmic composition under Godfried-Willem Raes and followed a Max/MSP course at the IRCAM in Paris. In 2009, he followed the one-year-specialization course of Sonology at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. In 2010, he specialized in contemporary chamber music with the Ictus and Spectra Ensemble. Previously, Jasper performed as a guitarist for both classical and contemporary ensembles and he is responsible for the electronics of Besides. Recently Jasper Braet designed the live-electronics for the opera ‘La Foret’ by Baudouin de Jaer (2014). Together with Jasper Vanpaemel, he founded the electronic improvisation duo Jasper & Jasper.
Jasper Vanpaemel (1986) was influenced at a young age by a wide variety of music styles. Jasper studied piano under Jan Michiels at the Conservatory in Brussels. For his final examination he presented a program of contemporary music, coached by composers such as Luc Brewaeys and Michael Jarrell. Jasper also specialized in contemporary music, composition and free improvisation under the supervision of Bart Bouckaert, Franklin Gyselinck, Kris Defoort and Peter Swinnen. In 2009-2010, Jasper attended the international Sonology course with a.o. Kees Tazelaar and Paul Berg at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague in Holland, where he met Jasper Braet, co-founder of ‘Jasper & Jasper’.Jasper Vanpaemel provided the electronics for the quartet Revue Blanche, which premiered at the Klara Festival (2013). In 2014 he was awarded with the ‘Stephan De Jonghe Award for composition’. Currently, he is working as pianist, improviser, composer and computer-artist in various bands.