soundings #058: Totenhagen Solo - Vocal Mutations

“What a voice — delicate, discreet, intimate. And how elegant the arrangements are. (…) Laura is top-tier.” (Ulrich Stock, ZEIT-Magazin)

“Laura Totenhagen takes the sharpest tools of vocal technique and uses them to dissect her voice into its smallest components.” (SWR, Konrad Bott)

Laura Totenhagen explores the full spectrum of vocal expression, from the most delicate vocal techniques to raw sonic textures. Using effects pedals, she transforms her voice into an entirely new, synthetically charged instrument, pushing both her voice and the effects themselves beyond their conventional functions and into extreme sonic territories.

Her solo performance evokes the nuanced atmosphere of a horror film: dark, menacing, and at times grotesque — a cabinet of sonic horrors infused with humour, playfulness, and lightness. Uncanny and liberating in equal measure, her work draws the audience into an unfamiliar acoustic world.

Drawing inspiration from sound artist Lucrecia Dalt and producer Eartheater, as well as vocalists Stine Janvin, Trondheim Voices and Sofia Jernberg, Totenhagen uses electronic processing to dehumanise and reshape her vocal expression.

The Cologne based vocalist Laura Totenhagen (*1992) has a broad spectrum of musical influences and experiences. First trained as a child in oboe and piano, she holds a Bachelor and Master’s degree in Jazz Voice from Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln. Her experimental practice extends beyond sound into the visual realm through costumes, staging, and a performance style that is at once playful and meticulously precise.

She teaches at HfMT Köln the IfM Osnabrück, HfM Hamburg and and has appeared at, among others, A Bunch of Noise in Shanghai, London Jazz Festival and the À L’ARME! Festival in Berlin.