SHABNAM PARVARESH / SOFIA LABROPOULOU / MATTHIAS LOIBNER
concert
Thu. 04. December, 19:30
SHABNAM PARVARESH Bass-Clarinet / SOFIA LABROPOULOU Kanun / MATTHIAS LOIBNER Hurdy-Gurdy
The final concert of Unbounded Sounds presents Sofia Labropoulou with bass clarinetist Shabnam Parvaresh, an Iranian-born artist acclaimed for her seamless fusion of Persian music, jazz, and experimental soundscapes.
In the second half, they will be joined by Matthias Loibner on hurdy-gurdy, a globally celebrated musician, for an extraordinary trio debut.
Location: Sargfabrik Kulturhaus (Goldschlagstraße 169, 1140 Wien)
Accessibility: The venue is wheelchair accessible.
workshop
Fri. 05. December, 10:00 - 17:30
SHABNAM PARVARESH & SOFIA LABROPOULOU Εxploring Presence and Communication in Improvisation
In this interactive workshop, bass clarinetist Shabnam Parvaresh and kanun player Sofia Labropoulou invite participants to delve into the art of improvisation. The session focuses on essential aspects of musical collaboration, including listening, presence, space, and communication.
With deep roots in jazz, classical, contemporary and traditional music—where improvisation lies at the core of their artistry—both musicians bring a wealth of experience to the workshop.
Through guided exercises and open discussions, participants will learn to truly listen, stay present, and create meaningful musical spaces, fostering a deeper connection with others through improvisation.
Perfect for musicians of all backgrounds, this workshop offers a unique opportunity to unlock creativity and explore the transformative power of collaboration.
Location: mica – music Austria Seminarraum (Stiftgasse 29, 1070 Wien)
Duration: 6 hours
Time: 10:00 – 17:30 (with pause)
Participation fee: 80 euros
Language: English
Accessibility: The workshop room is wheelchair accessible
All workshops are open to composers and musicians of all instruments.
About the artists
Shabnam Parvaresh
Bass-Clarinet
“Shabnam Parvaresh combines avant-garde and romanticism, progressive and folk elements to create a very individual sound. The music becomes an exciting narrative.” Hans-Dieter Grünefeld – Sonic-Sax & Brass Magazine
Shabnam Parvaresh is a clarinetist, visual artist, and curator from Tehran, Iran. She studied fine arts in Tehran and began her musical career by studying clarinet privately with musicians from the Tehran Symphony Orchestra. She left Iran in 2013 to study jazz clarinet at the Osnabrück Institute of Music in Germany. In her musical work, she takes an explorative approach that blends elements of Persian music with electronic sounds, improvised music, and jazz.In 2020, she founded the “Sheen Trio,” whose debut album, “Gozar,” was released by Berthold Records in spring 2023.
In addition to receiving reviews in specialist magazines such as “Jazzthing,” the Sheen Trio’s pieces have been played on WDR and SWR, and the trio has performed at national and international festivals. Shabnam is also involved as an instrumentalist in numerous other projects and has performed at events such as the Cologne Jazzweek, the Moers Festival, the Tehran Contemporary Music Festival, and the Multiphonics Festival.Beyond her musical work, she curates the concert series “Klangfenster in der hase29,” dedicated to improvised and experimental music.
Starting in 2026, she will take over as the artistic director of the Morgenland Festival Osnabrück. As a visual artist, Shabnam has held solo exhibitions of her work in Tehran, Osnabrück, and the United Arab Emirates. In 2022, she was nominated for the Osnabrück Art Prize.
Sofia Labropoulou
Kanun player, composer, improviser and artistic director of Unbounded Sounds
“Sofia Labropoulou has translated the musical heritage of the European and Aegean musical tradition into a living practice.” Cecile Olshausen – SRF 2 Kultur
Sofia Labropoulou is an internationally acclaimed kanun player, composer, and improviser celebrated for her groundbreaking approach to the instrument.
By blending Eastern Mediterranean folk music, Ottoman classical traditions, Western medieval, contemporary, and experimental music, she creates a sound that is both deeply personal and globally resonant.
Classically trained in piano and percussion, Sofia discovered her passion for the kanun as a teenager and later moved to Istanbul to study Ottoman music in depth. Over the years, she has pushed the boundaries of the kanun, taking the instrument into entirely new territories, far beyond its traditional frameworks. Her innovative techniques and experimental compositions have redefined its role in contemporary music, establishing her as a pioneer in the field.
Sofia has collaborated with wonderful artists across genres, performing on prestigious stages worldwide and leading masterclasses in kanun and Greek folk music. Her acclaimed solo album Sisyphus (Odradek Records, 2020) showcased her unique ability to intertwine tradition and innovation, while her upcoming album Spiral continues to explore new sonic possibilities and brings the kanun out of its sonic limits.
As the founder and artistic creator of Unbounded Sounds, Sofia brings her vision of cross-cultural collaboration and artistic dialogue to life. The festival exemplifies her belief in the transformative power of music to connect people and traditions while pushing the limits of artistic expression.
Based in Vienna, Sofia Labropoulou continues to compose, perform, and inspire new generations of musicians with her revolutionary approach to the kanun and her dedication to reshaping the musical landscape.
Matthias Loibner
Hurdy-Gurdy (Drehleier, vielle à roue)
“Matthias Loibner is one of a growing tribe of hurdy-gurdy masters who are giving fresh life to this droning hand-cranked string instrument.” Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim – The New York Times
Matthias Loibner hurdy-gurdy (Drehleier, vielle à roue) Matthias Loibner is taking a permanent tour with his hurdy-gurdy (Drehleier, vielle à roue, ghironda) through various regions, times and musical genres across the world. As an artist much in demand of extraordinary and unusual projects he is collecting the impressions of his travels, encounters and observations in the sound of the hurdy-gurdy, hereby generating timeless musical impressions loaded from a big repertoire between classical, electronic, tradition and imagination.
Matthias Loibner was born in 1969 in Austria and started to play music on piano and guitar. He ran away from home in order to become a busking musician when he was 17, but later started to study composition and conducting in Graz, Austria. When he discovered traditional music and the hurdygurdy he quit his studies and devoted his life to this rare and fascinating instrument. He soon won the first prize for his playing at the “Concours des vielles et cornemuses” in St. Chartier, France (1994).
Main focusses in his work so far have been original compositions from the french baroque (together with Christophe Coin, Le Concert Spirituel, Les Musiciens de Saint Julien and Riccardo Delfino), the first recordings of Joseph Haydns works for „lira organizzata“ (with Christophe Coin and the Ensemble Baroque de Limoges), the arrangement and recording of Franz Schuberts „Winterreise“ (with Nataša Mirković) and the extended use of the hurdy-gurdy, also combined with an electronic sound processing setup, in the wide field of world, jazz, contemporary and improvised music (with Nataša Mirković, Franz Hautzinger, Lucas Niggli, jazzbigbandgraz, Den Sorte Skole, Basel Rajoub, Mahan Mirarab, Christof Dienz, Christian Zehnder, Benedicte Maurseth, Caitríona O’Leary, Ross Daly amongst many others). Matthias Loibner composed music for film and theatre for Karl Markovics, Henning Mankell, Dimiter Gotscheff , Thomas Wander, Sandy Lopičić and and has been teaching hurdy-gurdy and improvisation at the Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts of Esbjerg, Denmark, The Royal College of Music in Stockholm, Sweden and in workshops around Europe, Japan, Australia and Brasil.