Composer and director Ruedi Häusermann was born in Lenzburg in 1948. He studied economics and music. From very early in his life he was interested in jazz and free improvisation. Over the years Häusermann created his own language in the music-theater genre, for which he has received several awards, such as the «Kunstpreis der Stadt Zürich» in 2011. His performances are mounted only after long phases of composing and theme selection. Häusermann explores the possibilities of merging theater and music, giving both arts space for new interactions. His artistic vision is directed towards detail, creating a poetic and ambiguous microcosmos.

In his first artistic confrontation with string quartets, Häusermann devoted himself to the research of the sound of Schubert quartets. Since the 1990s he has been writing his own compositions for string quartets, transferring them to four pianos for his premiere of Elfriede Jelineks «Über Tiere» (About Animals) at the Burgtheater Wien in 2007. More piano quartets followed, such as «Die Glocken von Innsbruck läuten den Sonntag ein» (The Bells of Innsbruck Ring in Sunday), again at Burgtheater Wien in 2009, «Gang zum Patentamt» (Walk to the Patent Office) at the and the Wiener Festwochen in 2010, or «Vielzahl leiser Pfiffe» (A Multitude of Low-volume Whistles) at the Schauspielhaus Zurich in 2010. For «Randolphs Erben» (Randolph’s Inheritors) at the Staatsoper Stuttgart in 2009 and «Der Hodler: Eine musiktheatralische Einsicht» (Hodler: A Music Theatrical Inspection) at the Schauspielhaus Zurich in 2010, Häusermann wrote compositions for string and brass quartets. Häusermann repeatedly staged his work at the Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz in Berlin, at the Theater Neumarkt in Zurich, at the Wiener Burgtheater, at the Theater Basel, at the Staatstheater Hannover, the Staatsoper Stuttgart, the Münchner Opernfestspiele and again at the Schauspielhaus Zurich, where «Robert Walser – musikalische Durchwanderung» (Robert Walser – Walking Through Musically) was staged in 2014. He broke new ground as well as his risqué entertainment «Kapelle Eidg. Moos» (The Confederate Moss Band), in collaborationwith Herwig Ursin and Jan Ratschko, which earned him the Swiss Theater Prize in 2018. Also in 2018 he staged his freelance production LETZTER AUFRUF FÜR URSIN UND KUBUS (Last Call for Ursin and Kubus) in collaboration with Herwig Ursin and The Kubus Quartet at the Tuchlaube in Aarau. Häusermann works sporadically as a lecturer at the Universität der Künste (University of the Arts) in Berlin.

www.ruedihaeusermann.ch

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