Siedl/Cao is a composer-, performer- and sound artist group based in Vienna, Austria. Cao Thanh Lan and Gregor Siedl have been collaborating intensively in the field of contemporary instrumental and electronic music, music theater and sound art since 2013. Siedl/Cao is one of 5 groups from Austria that received the award New Austrian Sound of Music 2018-2020 in the category Contemporary Music.
With their recent sound artworks and trans-disciplinary projects, many of which work with site-specific and interactive elements, they examine the relationship and balance between visual and acoustic elements, nature and artificiality, human and machine, the intentionality versus non-intentionality, and explore how contextualization changes our perception of things. Artificial intelligence, human body movements, light, space, shadow and sounds are amongst their media to convey in a poetic and playful way their reflections on art and humanity.
Works by Siedl/Cao have been presented at international art institutions, festivals and venues, including: Ars Electronica Linz, Busan International Film Festival 2022, MCAM – Ming Contemporary Art Museum Shanghai, TCAC – Taipei contemporary art center, Koganecho Art Center Yokohama, Figya Art Space Osaka, Operadagen Rotterdam, Musiktheatertage Wien, Festival “War Singing” in the House of World Cultures Berlin, FIME – Festival Internacional de Musica Experimental São Paulo, Audio Rebel in Rio De Janeiro, Relincha Festival Valdivia, Acefalo Festival Valparaiso, Festival Ars Musica Electronica Torun, Frischzelle Festival for Intermedial Performance Cologne, Strom Festival Cologne, Äquidistanz Festival Vienna, State Opera Hanoi, New Music Festival Hanoi, Ftarri Tokyo, Nomart Gallery Osaka, cheLA Buenos Aires, Nights at Tempe – Sydney, Institut Francais, “The Factory” – Center for contemporary art Ho Chi Minh City and many more. They have been touring in Europe, Japan, Brazil, Iran, China, Taiwan, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Finland, Vietnam, Australia and Indonesia.
They have received awards and grants from: Federal Chancellery of the Republic of Austria Art and Culture, BMEIA Foreign Ministry Austria, SKE Fonds Austria, Austrian Cultural Forums in Tokyo, Beijing, Brussels, Bangkok, Tehran and Warsaw, Cultural Office Lower Austria, MICA- Austria, Art Foundation NRW, Ministry for Culture North Rhine-Westphalia, ON Neue Musik, RheinEnergie Foundation, Institut Francais, Goethe Institut.
They have been artists in residence at EMS in Stockholm, Xarkis in Cyprus, Tua-Tiu-Tiann in Taipei, CheLa in Buenos Aires.
Duo Siedl/Cao has also given workshops on contemporary composition and improvisation at Monash University Melbourne, BoxHill Institute Melbourne, National University of Hsinchu Taiwan, Sungshin Women’s University Seoul, Mahidol University Bangkok, Äänen Lumo Helsinki, Universidad de La Serena Chile, Universidad de Montevideo Uruguay, Meridian Space Beijing, DOMDOM Center for experimental music Hanoi, etc.
For their projects and cooperations, they have received grants from – Austrian Federal Chancellery (BKA) for Art and Culture, Austrian Cultural Forums in Tokyo, Brussels, Bangkok, Tehran, Hanoi and Warsaw, Cultural Department of Lower Austria, Austrian Embassies, ON-Neue Musik Cologne, Ministry for Culture in Nordrhein-Westfalen (MFKJKS-NRW), Rhein-Energie Stiftung.
Lan (first name) was born 1987 in Hanoi, Vietnam. She works in the fields of contemporary instrumental and electronic music, sound art and music theatre. She is the scholarship holder of Startstipendium 2018 from the Austrian Federal Chancellery. She was trained as a classical contemporary music pianist in Köln (with Pierre-Laurent Aimard) and Brussels, but recently she has focused mostly on her own compositions and sound installations, experimenting with modular synthesizers, prepared marxophone/zither, self-built electronics and various objects, etc.
Active as a sound artist, improviser, composer in Berlin, Vienna and Hanoi in many different projects, notably the composer-performer Duo Siedl/Cao, she has been touring and giving workshops for contemporary music and improvisation in Europe, Japan, Brasil, China, Taiwan, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Australia, Iran, Indonesia and Vietnam. Her works have been released on labels Moloko Plus, Impakt, Flaming Pines, Off Record, Acefalo Records and Syrphe. She has performed at Ars Electronica Linz, Emittermicro Berlin, Flux Festival Berlin, Brechtfestival Augsburg, FIME festival for experimental music in Sao Paulo Brazil, Hanoi New Music Festival, Strom festival Cologne, Festival Frischzelle Cologne, PhonoFemme Vienna, Sonic Territories Vienna, etc.
As a guest pianist/performer of Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin (KNM Ensemble), she has performed at Ultraschall Festival Berlin, Musica Electronica Nova Wroclaw, Poesiefestival Berlin, etc. She has earned a wide range of solo and ensemble experience in contemporary music festivals namely Darmstadt Festival for new music, Festival Ircam Paris@Manifest and in festival academies such as Klangspuren – Ensemble Modern Frankfurt, Impuls Festival – Ensemble Klangforum Vienna, etc.
Gregor Siedl is currently based in Vienna, Austria. He is engaged in the field of sound art, experimental music theater and projects crossing genres and disciplines. His works could be seen as a by-product of an on-going process of self-recognition. His main interest is in exploration of sound and visuals, their form, their correlation and the way they are perceived. Recent projects have lead him to research ancient rituals, artificial intelligence, „natural radio“ emissions and DIY electronics. He is an active member of the experimental music scenes in Berlin, Vienna and Brussels.
He is a founding member of the long term collaboration Siedl/Cao, Junk Orbit, Parallel Asteroid, ZICLA, DOKO and Osmosis Project. He has performed all over Europe, Middle-East, Asia and South-America at international music festivals and concert venues, such as: Festival Ankunft Neue Musik Berlin, HdKW Berlin, Festival Internacional de Musica Experimental Sao Paulo, Follow the sound Festival Antwerpen, Storm!-Festival, LeXGiornate Milan, Porgy&Bess Vienna, Ftarri Tokyo, EnvironmentZeroGauge Osaka, Dotolim Seoul, Estonian Academy of music, Improvised Music Co. Dublin and more.
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Siedl/Cao ist eine in Wien ansässige Komponisten-, Performance- und Klangkünstlergruppe. Sie arbeiten auf dem Gebiet der zeitgenössischen elektronischen und instrumentalen Musik, des Musiktheaters und der Klangkunst. Cao Thanh Lan kommt aus Vietnam und Gregor Siedl aus Österreich. Siedl/Cao ist eine von 5 Gruppen aus Österreich, die die Auszeichnung New Austrian Sound of Music 2018-2019 in der Kategorie Contemporary Music erhalten haben.
Mit ihren jüngsten transdisziplinären Klangkunstwerken, von denen viele ortsspezifische Elemente und die Beteiligung des Publikums beinhalten, untersuchen sie Beziehung und Balance zwischen visuellen und akustischen Elementen, Intentionalität und Nicht-intentionalität, Natur und Künstlichkeit, Mensch und Maschine.
In ihren experimentellen Musikprojekten arbeiten sie mit verschiedenen Schallquellen – Verkehrslärm in Hanoi, Klarinette, vietnamesische Hubble-Bubble-Pfeife, Daxophon, Luftpumpe, Servomotoren, Kompressionsfedern, modularen Synthesizern, Crackers und Snacks, AI unterstützte Text-to-Speech Applikationen, Marxophon, Kunststoffpflanzen, Klebeband, Aufgussbeutel usw. für verschiedenste Standorte wie Opernhäuser, Kegelbahneb, Theater, Wohnzimmer, Universitätshörsäle, Vinylladen, Galerien usw.
Duo-Werke von Cao Thanh Lan und Gregor Siedl wurden unter an renommierten Kunstinstitutionen, internationalen Festivals und Veranstaltungsorten auf der ganzen Welt gezeigt – Ars Electronica – Klangwolke Linz, Ming Museum für zeitgenössische Kunst Shanghai, Zentrum für zeitgenössische Kunst Taipeh, Koganecho Art Center Yokohama, Figya Art Space Osaka, Operadagen Rotterdam , Musiktheatertage Wien, Festival „Krieg singen“ im Haus der Kulturen der Welt Berlin, FIME – Festival Intern. de Musica Experimental São Paulo, Frischzellen Festival für Intermediale Performance Köln, Strom Festival Köln, Festival für Neue Musik Hanoi, Ftarri Tokio, Nomart Gallery Osaka, CHELA Buenos Aires, Nationaloper Hanoi, Institut Francais, Zentrum für zeitgenössische Kunst der Fabrik HCMC usw. Sie haben bereiste Europa, den Iran, Japan, China, Taiwan, Südkorea, Argentinien, Brasilien, Uruguay, Chile, Finnland, Vietnam, Australien und Indonesien.
Duo Siedl/Cao hält Workshops für multidisziplinäre Komposition und Improvisation an internationalen Bildungseinrichtungen:
u.a. Monash University Melbourne, BoxHill Institute Melbourne, National University of Hsinchu Taiwan, Sungshin Women’s University Seoul, Mahidol University Bangkok, Äänen Lumo Helsinki, Universidad de La Serena Chile sowie der Universidad de Montevideo Uruguay, Meridian Space Beijing, DOMDOM Zentrum für experimentelle Musik Hanoi usw.
Für ihre Projekte und Kooperationen erhielten sie Stipendien von – Bundeskanzleramt für Kunst und Kultur (BKA), Österreichischen Kulturforen in Tokio, Brüssel, Bangkok, Teheran, Hanoi und Warschau, Kulturamt Niederösterreich, ON- Neue Musik Köln, Ministerium für Kultur in Nordrhein-Westfalen (MFKJKS-NRW), Rhein-Energie Stiftung.
Duo Siedl/Cao 
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