Saxophonist, composer, and artistic researcher Birgitta Flick is particularly interested in the interplay between notation and improvisation, as well as in exploring collaborative creative working methods. Her artistic work has been recognized with awards such as the 2025 German Jazz Prize in the category “Composition/Arrangement of the Year,” and is documented through an extensive discography as well as a choir edition by Swedish Gehrmans Musikförlag. She holds a doctoral degree in artistic research from the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, obtained in 2025 by a thesis researching a musical composition’s transformative potential.
EXTENDED VERSION:
Birgitta Flick is an improviser, composer and artistic researcher from Berlin who is particularly interested in the interplay between notation and improvisation, as well as in exploring collaborative creative working methods. Educated as saxophonist at Jazz-Institut Berlin (UdK/HfM “Hanns Eisler”, B of Mus.Ed.) and in composition at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm (M. Mus), she works internationally as a freelance musician with her own groups based in Berlin, Stockholm, Vienna, and New York City. She composes for and with chamber ensembles such as LUX:NM (DE) and choirs and vocal ensembles such as VoNo (SE, cond. Lone Larsen) and the youth choir of Berlin’s Staatsoper (DE, cond. Konstanze Löwe), as well as on commission by festivals such as Tage Alter Musik Schwerin (DE), or institutions such as Initiative Musik gGmbH (DE).
Her artistic work has been recognized with awards such as the 2025 German Jazz Prize in the category “Composition/Arrangement of the Year,” or the JazzBaltica Förderpreis, and is documented through an extensive discography as well as a choir edition by Swedish Gehrmans Musikförlag in the series #swedishchoralmusic. Furthermore, she has received support by institutions and organizations such as the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe and the Goethe institute. Her compositions have been premiered at festivals such as Svensk musikvår and she has performed with her own groups at festivals such as aNOther festival Vienna or JazzBaltica.
With a great interest in interdisciplinary work, she has developed with Milana Novčić, Nina Perovic and Thomas van Walle the audiovisual performance Reconnecting (with) Traces for the Moderna Galerija, Muzeji i galerije Podgorice, Montenegro, in 2023. Also, she explores the relations between sound and movement within projects such as h a n d m a d e r e s o n a n c es with Vienna-based artists Sylvia Bruckner (piano) and Christa Stöffelbauer (dance), as well as the improvisation lab GlädjeCollective with dancers Oktavia Zoë Vöhringer, Cecilia Nuria Gil Mariño and Lucía Rosso between 2020–2021 in Berlin.
As a composer and improviser even of liturgical music and enthusiast of ancient hymns from Northern Europe, Birgitta Flick served as artistic director for the concert series InSpirit at Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtnis-Kirche in Berlin from 2015 to 2023, as well as being responsible for the monthly Psalmton jazz/pop service series.
Birgitta Flick holds a doctoral degree (Dr.art.) in artistic research from the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (mdw), obtained in 2025 by a thesis researching a musical composition’s transformative potential. She has presented her research at numerous conferences in Europe such as the AEC European Platform for Artistic Research in Music (EPARM) 2023 in Copenhagen and 2024 in Ljubljana, or the Forum Artistic Research at GMPU Klagenfurt (2024). Also, she is part of the core team of the newly founded SAR Special Interest Group Artistic Research in Jazz and Popular Music which extends the activities of the International Network of Artistic Research in Jazz (INARJ).
Birgitta Flick is a sought-after pedagogue for subjects related to saxophone, improvisation, composition, music theory and ensemble playing on beginner’s, intermediate and professional level. Her teaching experience ranges from regular freelance teaching and workshops at municipal music schools such as currently Musikschule CityWest in Berlin to academic guest lectures or workshops at academic institutions such as the music department at Hunter College in New York City.
Furthermore, Birgitta Flick is profoundly skilled in transcribing and engraving music. More information and work samples on request.
Birgitta Flick is a member of IMPRA (Sweden), Deutsche Jazzunion and IG Jazz (Germany).
Listen to Birgitta Flick‘s music on the individual project websites, the “Music&Media” page or on:
www.soundcloud.com/birgittaflick
Releases & publications:
as saxophonist/composer:
Lina Nyberg | Birgitta Flick | James Banner “Different People” (Digital Bandcamp release 2026)
Hesamizadeh|Hoppe|Flick “Live in Berlin”, Spektral Raumohr (Digital Bandcamp release 2025)
Birgitta Flick & Antje Rößeler “Sending a Phoenix” (wismART)
Birgitta Flick Quartet “Miniatures & Fragments” (Double Moon Records/Challenge)
Carol Liebowitz / Birgitta Flick Duo “Malita-Malika” (Leo Records)
Birgitta Flick Quartet “Color Studies” (Double Moon Records/Challenge)
Birgitta Flick Quartet feat. Lina Nyberg Nico Lohmann Silke Eberhard “Dalarna“ (Double Moon Records)
“Den signade dag” from “Dalarna” on “Lira: Lyssna. Ljudspår till #3 2016” (Lira, SE 2016)
Birgitta Flick Quartet “Yingying“ (Double Moon Records / “Jazz thing Next Generation“)
Flickstick “Hymn“ (WismART)
as saxophonist:
Nico Lohmann Quintett “Jazz it is” (AJazz)
Agustin Strizzi 5t “Vol. 2” (EP)
Antje Rößeler “Love’s Darknesses” (GAM Music, guest musician)
Pål Nyberg “Lowlands” (AMP Music & Records)
Antje Rößeler “Stockholm Trio (WismART, guest musician and composer)
Cajsa Zerhouni “Estuary” (DoMusic)
Uwe Steinmetz “In Spirit” (EJK Records)
Agustin Strizzi “P*g r o o v e Vol. 1” (electronic release)
Esther Kaiser “Songs of Courage” (GLM)
guest musician for the songs “Open your Eyes” and “Revolution”
Cantor Aviv Weinberg & Z’lil schel bet haskala, Jazz goes Synagogue (primTON)
Elias Gottstein “VR_Lust” (LP)
guest musician for the song “Tier”
Lewin-Landgren-Björänge Trio “It‘s Freedom“, live at Memorial Church, Berlin (EJK Records)
guest musician for the song “Verleih uns Frieden gnädiglich“
Nico Lohmann Quintett “Merging Circles“ (UNIT Records)
Nico Lohmann Quintett “Miraculum“ (UNIT Records)
Robert Keßler Go·ya “Yasmin“ (yvp music)
Christof Griese’s JayJayBeCe “20 Jahre JayJayBeCe“ (BIT)
Berliner Jugendjazzorchester “Berlin – Los Angeles“ (Phonector)
Guest Composition:
25 years JayJayBeCe – live at Schlot (Bellheim) (“Yingying“)
Published Scores:
Nocturne (Gehrmans Musikförlag)
Music Engraving:
Andreas Schmidt “slow motion emotion“ (NRW)
Transcriptions for:
Musik für Saxophonquartett [Vol. 1] (BIT)
Text—Academic text/Artistic research:
Flick, Birgitta (2025). Refiguring composition: artistically researching the contact between composition, improvisation and the outside world. Dissertation, mdw – Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien. https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/2635968/3678635
Flick, Birgitta (2025). “The Enchanted Forest: exploring the development of relations in artistic collaborations that combine individual and collective creative practices (in preparation)”. In:
Proceedings of the 1st symposium Forum Artistic Research: listen for beginnings. Ed. by Hanns Holger Rutz. Research Catalogue. https://doi.org/10.22501/rc.3877431
Flick, Birgitta (2020). Du har lärt mig att lyssna: En undersökning av genomsläpplighet i komposition. Master’s thesis. Stockholm: KMH. url: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kmh:diva-3500
Flick, Birgitta & Hanno Depner (2016). „Zur Macht des Augenblicks: Fünf Kompositionen und ihre Aufführungspraxis.“ In: Macht und Reflexion: Deutsches Jahrbuch Philosophie. Band 6, 77-80, 143-144, 199-201, 249-252, 319-321, Hamburg: Felix Meiner Verlag.
Text—Liner notes:
Stefan Münzer Trio, Utopia, WismART 2024 (Language: English/German)
Mischa Schumann Trio, Move Change Resolve, WismART 2025 (Language: German)