Nothing doing in Munich!
That's what you would hear whenever someone asked about concerts of improvised music in Munich.
Then a small circle of improv enthusiasts, who for years had traveled to diverse European festivals to hear their preferred music, decided to take action by starting their own association.
This was preceded by the fortuitous combination of various factors: an empty club room, two wellknown musicians, a free weekend. Spontaneously and on very short notice, a private concert with the English guitarist John Russell and the Austrian saxophone and clarinet player Tanja Feichtmeier was organised. The feedback was terrific: This should happen on a regular basis!
It was this enthusiasm that sparked off our decision and helped us overcome all reservations against founding an association. It took only one afternoon's brainstorming to lay down the association's mission and to come up with an appropriate name: Offene Ohren e.V. - Freunde der improvisierten Musik (Open Ears - Friends of Improvised Music) was born.
This was back in September 2004. You can check our archive to learn about how active Offene Ohren e.V. have been since.