David Karla

Budapest-based musician, David Karla, regards jazz and improvised music not as a canonical style, but as a living and breathing art form that reflects contemporary culture. He steps effortlessly back and forth from traditional to digital or software instruments, and custom builds sensors to transform the acoustic into the electronic. His is an interactive music that keeps an ear to the breakbeat, trance, jungle and ambience of the street, while responding to contemporary dance movements or constructing sound installations. He studied composition at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia and saxophone and clarinet with Mark Simmons, Peter Harper and Brigid Burke. He has also studied the classical clarinet and saxophone styles of India with teachers Kadri Gopalnath (Karnatic saxophone) and Narasimhalu Wadawati (Hindustani clarinet). He has designed a number of synthesizer apps for mobile devices, exhibited live algorithmic compositions at the Experimenta festival, built orchestras of ad-hoc instruments for the Melbourne Fringe festival, performed solo improvisations for the Óbuda Jazz Festival, and played crossover jazz-electronica for large outdoor dance events such as OZORA and Germany's Fusion Festival. David regularly performs live electro-acoustic music in intimate settings in Budapest and Vienna.