Florian Zimmer // Midori Hirano at Donau115

Florian Zimmer live at Donau115
Florian Zimmer - Modular Synthesizer
Florian Zimmer has been in a creative dialogue with artists in a variety of bands and duos in the course of the past three decades, including the long-running avant-hop trio Saroos alongside Christoph Brandner and Max Punktezahl, the industrial-punk project TVII SON, the dubwise duo Driftmachine featuring Andreas Gerth, and most recently his project Bella Wakame with prolific percussionist Andreas Haberl. Now the Berlin-based musician and composer is about to get even busier, this time as a solo artist. His improvised live sets draw on dub techniques and subtle grooves, mixing the sounds of his trusted modular synthesizers with a wide variety of samples to lysergic effect.
Zimmer straddles the line between abstract sound collaging and spontaneous live composition, utilising sounds from exotica or old educational records as well as field recordings to create ambiguities. Whether it is layered-and-looped polylogues between disembodied voices punctuated by melancholic melodica sounds, minimalist electronica, or intricate modular synthesizer rhythms that wouldn’t feel out of place on the dancefloor: Zimmer’s genre-transcending work with and around contrasts creates a sense of familiarity while evoking a feeling of uncanniness. The ever-changing interplay between sounds and rhythms, abstraction and concretion, semiotic serendipity and emotional warmth forms the dynamic and atmospheric core of his solo work.
Instagram: @saroos_flow
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Midori Hirano live at Donau115
Midori Hirano - Synthesizer, Piano
Midori Hirano is a Berlin-based Japanese musician, composer, and sound artist originally from Kyoto. Rooted in classical piano, she explores the space between structure and abstraction, acoustic and electronic sound. Her music builds layered soundscapes from piano, synthesizers, field recordings, and processed electronics, bringing the harmonic thinking of her piano background into experimental sound.
She has worked with a diverse range of artists, including string player Atsuko Hatano on Water Ladder (2021, Alien Transistor), Hprizm of Anti Pop Consortium (Love Control, 2017, raster), Brueder Selke on Split Scale (2025, Thrill Jockey), CoH on Sudden Fruit (2025, Ici d'ailleurs) and Ilpo Väisänen of Pan Sonic, with whom she has performed live.
Her new solo album OTONOMA (February 2026) has been released on Thrill Jockey Records, followed by The Juniper Tree (October 2026), an album featuring her newly imagined score for Nietzchka Keene’s 1990 film of the same name, following its live premiere at Videodroom in Ghent in 2025. The album was released by VIERNULVIER Records, with the digital edition on Thrill Jockey Records.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/midorihiranomusic
Instagram: @midori_hirano_
https://midorih.bandcamp.com/