Rhythmic layers and shifts, blooming guitar figures and airy vocals converge as leading Danish composer and drummer Anja Jacobsen presents the newly composed work Variations for percussion, guitar and voice at ALICE during the Copenhagen Jazz Festival in July. Positioned in the middle of the room, she invites the audience – together with Lars Bech Pilgaard (guitar), Anders Bach (percussion) and a ‘special guest’ – into a rare, immersive concert experience.

Anja Jacobsen works at the intersection of the experimental, the intuitive and the deeply present. She is known from projects such as Selvhenter, Valby Vokalgruppe and her solo project ‘a’, and her practice spans concert works as well as music for film and performance. With Selvhenter, she has previously delivered powerful concerts at ALICE, and now returns during the summer festival with a work created specifically for the occasion. Together with Lars Bech Pilgaard and Anders Bach, she positions herself among the audience, opening up an intense, physical listening experience where the boundary between stage and floor dissolves.

Over several years, Jacobsen has developed her own compositional method. The so-called “diamond rhythms” are visual, intuitive structures of coloured dots arranged in patterns that can be interpreted from multiple directions. The result is music in constant motion, where repetitions shift, break apart and re-emerge. At times, her voice appears – flute-like, light and floating – as small poetic glimpses of something intangible and sensory. We look forward to another unforgettable concert experience with Anja Jacobsen at ALICE this summer.

Lineup
Lars Bech Pilgaard – guitar
Anders Bach – percussion, objects
Anja Jacobsen – percussion, objects, voice
+ special guest!

The concert is part of Copenhagen Jazz Festival 2026, taking place from July 3 to July 12 across more than 120 venues throughout the city. See the full program at www.jazz.dk.