Born in 1978, accordionist Eva Zöllner went straight from the Music Academy in Copenhagen where she studied with one of the leading figures of the instrument, Geir Draugsvoll, into being a full time freelance accordionist. She has quickly made quite a name for herself appearing regularly at concerts anywhere from Japan to Mexico. Practically without a home base she now lives an almost nomadic life; travelling the world playing contemporary music, seeking opportunities and creating them alike. She spoke with MusMap about her instrument, her career and the life on the road.

MusMap: In the Gary Larson comic "The Far Side" I once came across a joke where a recently dead person stood in front of the gate to Heaven and an angel said to him: "Welcome to Heaven. Here is your harp". In the other half of the picture a man stood in front of the gate to Hell and the devil said to him: "Welcome to Hell. Here is your accordion".

It can be said that the accordion has had a bit dodgy reputation through the years as this joke by Gary Larson sums up. Why do you think that is and what has made it become more accepted, and trendy even, among composers in recent years?

EVA: that's my favourite cartoon - good you point it out... :) Because of its origin the accordion was and still is pretty much connected to a folk music/sailor's piano background . I have to face that every now and then, when people won't take me seriously at first until they understand what i'm actually doing.
The questions is, how one - either as a performer and as a composer- deals with an instrument that has an image still pretty one-dimensional and prejudiced. You can either accept the cliche and play with it in order to deconstruct it (as e.g. Mauricio Kagel and others were doing) or you decide to get away from it and "re-invent" the instrument. Both is very challenging for me, and i think it is important not to deny the instrument background (which does - to me- give the accordion a very special identity) but take it as a part of your artistic approach to create something new out of it.

When did you decide that the accordion was your instrument? 

I had a teacher in primary school who used to play the accordion, and I immediately fell in love with the instrument. It is a very fascinating instrument indeed cause it combines the characteristics of a keyboard instrument with the breath of a wind instrument.
However, it took some years until I found a teacher at the local music school and I never really thought about being a professional accordionist until I finished school and found that I do not really want to do anything else.

In playing such a young instrument as the classical accordion inevitably accordionists must play a lot of contemporary music right from the start. Do you ever miss not having repertoir from other eras or have you always been more interested in contemporary music?

The accordion is a very young instrument indeed. The first serious compositions were written in the middle of the 20th century which is actually not very long ago. So it is quite natural to play contemporary music on the accordion hence it is the only “original” repertoire for the instrument. Of course most accordionist cover different styles, such as contemporary, tango, baroque transcriptions etc. I decided very early that for me it makes the most sense to specialize in new music. I love it and it is great to be able to work with composers, experiment with sounds and be a part of the process that leads to the creation of a new piece of music. I believe, even if I had learned a more “classical” instrument, I'd still have a passion for contemporary music.

Already before you finished your studies you had become very active as a performer all around the world and you went straight into being a full time accordionist after you finished. Did you find this transition from student to professional difficult or had you already paved the way for your professional career during your student years?

During my studies people used claim that it is not possible to live from being a full-time accordionist and most of my colleagues would not even try but head directly into teaching (or taxi driving). Somehow I got very ambitious to prove that actually everything is possible if you have the right passion for the thing and an organizational skill to make your dreams come true. I worked very hard on it from the very beginning. I was very lucky to have a very supporting teacher who left me a lot of freedom to travel and realize my projects.

You have worked with many composers and premiered many new works. Is it your feeling that composers are generally becoming more positive towards the instrument? Are they generally knowlegdeble about the instrument and it's possibilities?

I am happy to notice the general tendency, that the instrument gets more and more estalished and appreciated, at least in the new music life. Once I get in touch with composers, they are usually very interested in the accordion. I'm pretty sure though that most people only get attracted by the instrument once they know a good performer, otherwise they'd probably stick to more common instruments. That is also due to the fact that it is not easy to get information about how to actually write for the accordion. This is the reason why I started offering workshops to universities to give the students the possibility to work with a professional performer to get to know the instrument.
It is very important for the establishment of the instrument that it appears both as a solo/chamber music instrument as well as in bigger ensembles/orchestras (I think it has a big potential in that genre which is not yet used often enough), so it needs composers to build the repertoire (and performers to present it). Therefore I consider the cooperation between composers and performers so important and I enjoy being a part of it.

As an accordionist you're not likely ever to get into the financial comfort zone of being on an orchestra pay-roll. Is that something you wish you could do or is the freelance life on the road more appealing to you?

I do very much enjoy living “on the road” with my accordion. In fact, I do not even have a “home” at the moment, travelling from one project to the next. Since I am very specialized in what I am doing I have to travel a lot and I love it. During the last few years I got to see a lot of places, got to know different cultures and got to work with great people. I'd never want to exchange that for a pay-check. Of course, it is a matter of fact, that as an accordionist you simply have to create all your jobs yourself which is a lot of work and financially instable. However, it is a personal and artistical challenge to survive as a freelancer and I enjoy it a lot.

You say you have to create most of your jobs yourself. Do you find it getting easier to create opportunities now than in the beginning, now  that you have created a name for youself?

Sure, it gets easier after a while. But it is still - as in every business - a matter of hard work, and luck... What makes me happy is if I perform somehere and people happen to invite me again, that proves that I am on the right way.  You have to be patient in this business, and have a true passion for what you are doing, then it will finally work out.

Your debut album (due 2009) is with works by Mexican composers. Can you tell us a bit more about that project?

Even though unfortunately most people in Europe don’'t know about it, there is a very interesting new music life in Mexico. When I went to Mexico for the first time for a solo recital back in 2006, the accordion had never appeared in a classical or contemporary context there. I was lucky to meet a lot of composers who fell in love with the instrument and decided to write pieces for me and since then I have been back a couple of times to perform in Festivals and work with Mexican composers and musicians. I am very honoured to have the chance to premier even a couple of conciertos for solo accordion and ensemble by Mexican composers during this year and the next.
I am planning to record a mixed CD with solo works, pieces for accordion and electroncs and one concierto with chamber ensemble in order to show the variety of the Mexican new music. As everywhere in the world funding for a project like this is a problem, but I hope I can realize it within the next two years.

Apart from your debut album, what projects are you working on now and in the coming months? 

There is various things coming up. The next one will be the premiere of a concierto for solo accordion and ensemble by Jorge Torres from Mexico the middle of may with Rotterdam Young Ensemble. There is another concierto by Mexican composer Georgina Derbez on the way, which will hopefully be premiered in 2009.
Otherwise I am working on a new programme with works for accordion and electronics and I am planning to extend my activities in the range of computer music, video and multimedia arts, planning cooperations with various artists.
I have been working on some sort of handbook for composers (which is planned to come along with a DVD) for a while and I'll hopefully finish that some time in the future, once I have included all the experiences I gain from my workshop and other activities and found some more funding for it.

Besides, I am quite active throughout the year with my chamber music groups: I have an accordion-double bass duo (“The Slide Show Secret”) and a duo with accordion and all sorts of recorders. Recently I founded a new “band” which consist of clarinet, accordion, double bass and piano and we'll be comissioning new works for this interesting formation.
Details on all projects can be found on my website (www.eva-zoellner.de) and I'll be happy about any sort of new cooperations that might pop up from people reading this.

See Eva Zöllner's MusMap Profile here: http://musmap.com/index.php/evazoellner/

Website: www.eva-zoellner.de