Villa Waldberta is the one of the two official artist residencies of the city of Munich. We were lucky to be offered a two months residency in this spectacular building overlooking Lake Starnberg with the Alps in the background. During this time, which was overshadowed by restrictions due to the Covid pandemic, we prepared for Radio Art Zone, our large scale project for the European Capital of Culture in Esch in 2022. For a live broadcast from the Villa’s resonant Palmenhaus, Sarah managed to bring together two of Bavaria’s titans of sound art, Limpe Fuchs and Hartmut Geerken (R.I.P.) for a live performance which was captured on video (see below). It turned out to be their first and only meeting, an unforgettable summit for those few who were allowed to attend.

The group of artists staying at Villa Waldberta at the same time became pals and collaborators during this period of enforced isolation. They made their way to hear us launch our Tonic Train CD at Schwere Reiter in Munich. Special mention goes to Eitan Rieger, who helped us a lot to produce the above video, and Timo Herbst, for whom we recorded sounds for his video installation Shanghai Cables, and who became a regular at the Villa’s table tennis table, even during thunderstorms:

It is hard to do the postcard beauty of the Villa, the lake with its rose island, and the whole surroundings any justice. Sarah took to the tower chamber to record songs as well as taking photos through her telescope. Here’s a glimpse: