Funk and soul band (Funkystition)
Contact
Responsible: Stephan Schomaker
Email:
Rehearsals: regular Tuesdays 20:00 - 22:00, Chamber Music Hall(A11); extra rehearsals for specific occasions by arrangement
Admission requirements: Participation after consultation with the artistic director; binding participation for several semesters desirable
Funk and soul band (Funkystition)
Funkystition regularly enriches university life at events such as graduation ceremonies, the opening of the semester and the extremely popular summer and winter balls.
The funk and soul band is a guided band project as part of the Institute of Music's ensemble practice. Here, skills and abilities required for ensemble playing are deepened and promoted, such as the realisation of own arrangements, solo playing and questions of joint genre-appropriate interpretation. Singers find themselves in a wide variety of polyphonic scenarios.
Co-operations with general education schools are sought and developed in order to organise concerts outside of the university and together with local school bands.
Current ensemble participants will become ensemble leaders in the future. Critical reflection on organisational, musical and cooperative interaction will provide invaluable experience for future academic appointments.
The history of funk and soul bands at the Institute of Music
The conceptual initiator of the funk and soul band tradition at the Institute of Music was Peter Janßen, who worked for many years as Teaching staff for special tasks at the Carl von Ossietzky University.
"Soulrise" and "Sould Out" were the former university soul bands with concerts and legendary performances at the Oldenburg Kultursommer, the Kulturetage Oldenburg, at "Classic meets Pop" or at the Oldenburg city festival, among others. The members of these past bands have since completed their studies.
"Better Call Soul" was the third generation. Its line-up consisted of singers, a rhythm section and horns. The band's musical orientation ranged from soul classics to modern beats and grooves with rap or hip hop echoes, all of which were specially arranged.
The formation "Soulicious" stood out at the city's "Summer in the city" cultural event series in 2019. With up to five singers, a brass section and a large rhythm section, it was a challenge for this version of the funk and soul band to perform their wonderful choreography on the limited stage space. An elaborate disco medley was a particular favourite. The finger pointing to the artist Stevie Wonder clearly characterised the successor models stylistically.
"Sway", the fifth generation, was active until July 2024 and was full of positive energy. It was almost impossible not to dance along to their stage shows. This version of the funk and soul band also performed at numerous semester events and entered into co-operations with other bands.
