Led from the drumkit by superstar percussionist Dirk Rothbrust, the ensemble explores connections between Zappa’s wild creations, from the vibrant funk of Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing? to the atmospheric t’Mershi Duween, and the classical music that he so admired.

Ensemble musikFabrik also performs the remarkable Ionisation for 13 percussionists by Zappa’s lifelong hero Edgard Varèse, a celebration of the sounds of modern city life. John Cage’s classic Credo in Us, written in response to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, supplements the percussion ensemble with turntable and radioÂreceiver.

‘Ensemble musikFabrik… have in recent years taken their place at the forefront of music making’
Süddeutsche Zeitung

'watertight big band grooves. They capture Zappa's zany theatrics but they nail his rhythms, too.'

The Guardian

Earthy and soaring concert of outrageously good musicianship to nourish the adventurous concertgoer

'It takes a certain effort of imagination to accept that the man who wrote a song called 'Why Does It Hurt While I Pee?' was the greatest American composer of his time, but Ensemble MusikFabrik's A Tribute to Frank Zappa, played with the precision of keyhole surgery and the fervour of a gospel meeting, would convert anyone'

The List

To find out more about Ensemble musikFabrik, visit their official website.