A church’s acoustics can make a concert feel grander or more sacred. And last night for the first event of German Music @ SXSW 2024 — a series put together by the German Music Export and Initiative Musik — Austin’s Central Presbyterian Church was an ideal venue for taking modern classical German music to new heights. The diverse lineup featured musicians breaking boundaries of classical music with their modern compositions, starting with Costa Rican-born pianist Sofi Paez’s delicate, haunting compositions that grew more surreal with Lisa Morgenstern’s stilling vocal acrobatics and ending with a mad scientist-esque set from Grandbrothers’ Erol Sarp and Lukas Vogel. The whole night felt charged in the high-beamed conservative setting.

Before they took the intimate stage, corralled by technicolored stained glass ribbons, Düsseldorf’s Grandbrothers contemplated the unknowns of the evening. “To be honest, we don’t really know what to expect from the audience,” Sarp told Stereogum. “We’ve played some showcase festivals and most of the people might be from the music industry and the concert vibe might be a bit different than usual. Might be a lot of people coming in and going, not as much focused on the concert as usual — but you never know what can happen, what can come out of it, who’s going to be in the audience, and maybe what can build from there.” 

Fresh off an eight-day tour in France, Sarp and Vogel were primed to perform (although the latter admitted he was fighting off a sickness) and kept an open mind for the setting — a modest temple of worship. “Sometimes when we play in churches, it’s often that people try to behave in a way. It’s hard for them to really show their emotions,” Sarp added. “You try not to be too loud and a bit more introverted.” But the composers are well-versed in transcending religious settings with their layered and tactile music. Their last album Late Reflections is a recorded collection of songs the duo finely composed and curated to match one of the most monumental settings of gothic architecture, Cologne Cathedral. Sarp continued: “So we are quite familiar with the atmosphere, we know that it’s going to be a bit more quiet in the audience. At least that’s what we tell ourselves, it doesn’t have to do so much with us. It’s more people that are a bit more…holding back.” 

Sarp was right, there wasn’t a mob of sweaty bodies freely swaying in the church washed in flashes of strobe lights. That was more to do with the pace of the evening, slowly building to club-worthy rhapsodic highs as the audience marveled in the red velvet-cushioned rows. Stark flashes of crimson and royal blue wafted over and from behind Paez as she began the night at the piano. Most compositions she performed were instrumental, each expansive song drawing in her whole body as if in meditation with her piano. It was her first time in the US and her pure enthusiasm was palpable. Her demeanor was bright, maybe even a little nervous, and early on she softly mentioned something of minor technological glitch. “We will just wing it,” she grinned into her mic. Whatever Paez was struggling with in the beginning was undetected by the audience. Paez’s compositions were not solely instrumental. After a couple songs, her soft, high-pitched speaking voice was exchanged for a heavy, almost icy croon. Her performance of “Por qué” — the lead single from her debut album Silent Stories, out May 2 via OPIA Community — was wistful. Like a burst of winter air on a sun-drenched afternoon, her harmonic vocal cries wafted refreshing-turned-anxious piano strokes. 

The acoustics of the Central Presbyterian Church made Paez’s melancholic pieces sound buttery and lush. “Like the sun shines again like the moon hides away and your smile, I miss it,” she sang on an unreleased song. “Staring back at me, I’m not free,” she whispered quickly at the song’s end. Towards the end of her set, I spied several people with heads cradled in their hands, mesmerized by her handwoven storytelling. “I can’t see you, but it would be so nice to see you,” she offered. The lights let up. “Ahhh, soo nice,” she beamed. 

Morgenstern built on Paez’s cinematic momentum, helming synths and the piano with a cello and French horn accompaniment. Most of Morgenstern’s songs began with her rippling vocals that expanded in the church with a halo-like effect. Her words, emphasized by the elongated brush of the cello and a softly bruised horn, morphed between exclamations that felt both primal and angelic. During Morgenstern’s performance, it feels as though we were shifting realms. String and horn accompaniments swelled and then fizzled into bleating synths. She closed with the world-shattering single “Spacesuit,” filling the church cataclysmic cries and slithering beats. It was funny witnessing the audience shift in their seats while the futuristic oeuvre possessed the church. One repeated lyric, “But no one’s out here to impress,” felt like an ironic sentiment with which to leave us. At her set’s end, the audience stood, clapping and emphasizing its awe. 

Morgenstern’s performance ended on an otherworldly note, then Sarp and Vogel grabbed the torch and guided the night to another planet. Sarp manned the duo’s rewired piano while Vogel directed the processed and manipulated piano sounds. During the middle of their set, Vogel explained their detailed setup, emphasizing that all their sounds come from the piano equipped with positioned hammers. No synths! Well, that was until their closing number, which was a new composition. Sarp described that after a decade of their perfected technique, years of meticulously mining sounds, the duo is experimenting with new technology. He joked they were getting a bit lazy. But as the first night of German Music @ SXSW 2024 came to a close, the current generation of modern classical music is clearly anything but.

German Music Export and Initiative Musik’s programming continues tonight with a rave at the Coconut Club Rooftop spotlighting the diversity of Germany’’s electronic industry, with sets from Sofia Kourtesis, Malugi, Nils Hoffmann, and Session Victim.

Check out more photos from last night’s showcase below by Brynn Osborn.