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BE:OK Art Lab Biography

BE:OK Art Lab: Biography

BE:OK, short for the full title 'Be Ok Art Lab', is an international trio of improvisers, arrangers, and composers who share a mutual admiration for the music of Belá Bartok. Pianist Johann Fritsche (GER), drummer Fiach Ó Briain (IRE), and bassist Otso Mielonen (FIN) were commissioned to perform a concert for the 140th anniversary of Bela Bartok at the Musikhuset in Aarhus, Denmark in 2021. Jazz musicians throughout the 21st century have looked to western classical music for inspiration and the music of Belá Bartok is rich with such melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic delights. The trio focus on a process of deconstructing/reconstructing and reimagining/recontextualising the motifs and forms found in Bartok's Microcosmos. Through their arrangements they bridge classical work with the postmodern, highlight the unique concepts found in Bartok's music, and utilise his themes as a springboard for their own creativity and expression.

Fiach Ó Briain

Fiach has worked in the music industry since 2006 as a; drummer, composer, session musician, and a teacher. Originally from Ireland, now living in Scandinavia, he has also lived for 5 years in China performing extensively and teaching at the Beijing Contemporary Music Academy. He has performed with Grammy winners and nominees from USA, Europe, and China and currently leads his own group ‘Monstera Deliciosa’.

Johann Fritsche

Johann is a virtuous pianist and composer. After studying in Germany, Finland, Denmark and Sweden and he now lives in Stockholm and works as a freelancing artist. Johann has worked on various cross genre projects together with many artists and toured internationally. His music and projects reflect on his background in classical music and combine different musical genres and improvised music in a sophisticated and playful way.

Otso Kasperi Mielonen:

Otso Kasperi Mielonen is an ambitious bassist and composer with deep interests in jazz, Western African music and baroque and renaissance music. His work focuses around the symbiosis between polyphony and polyrhythm in various historical contexts. Mielonen has received his bachelor’s degree from Dublin City University with first class honours in composition under guidance of Ronan Guilfoyle. In addition Mielonen has also undertaken a pre-masters in historical performance practice at the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht, where studied with Viola da Gamba virtuoso Joshua Cheatham. Privately Mielonen has studied classical and baroque double bass with Erik Higgins.