The Circle

"Our album "The Circle" is a tribute to the people around us. It's about listening to each other and being there for one another, sharing brief moments with strangers, friendships, and team spirit - and creating something more precious through these aspects than one could ever achieve alone. Many musical inspirations for "The Circle" came from encounters on our travels. In the 11 pieces, we have captured experiences we have shared with each other and with many wonderful people we have met through our music and who have become part of our lives. The attempt to create a particularly colorful album, blurring the boundaries between genres while uniting our different musical approaches, was an exciting experience. One of the most thrilling moments in the creation of this album was bringing together musicians from around the world to jam together on the title track: from a Chinese Guzheng, Indian Tablas, and Turkish Oud to American slide guitar. With this album, we want to invite you to become part of our "Circle." We hope our music conveys the same sense of togetherness that inspired us to the pieces on this album." - Bjarke Falgren & Sönke Meinen

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Bjarke Falgren

Bjarke Falgren was born in 1979 and grew up in Næstved, Denmark. He studied at the Rytmisk Music Conservatory in Copenhagen and has held teaching positions at various Danish music academies.

In addition to his duo with Sönke Meinen, Bjarke Falgren also performs in solo concerts and with his own jazz quartet. His "unique ability to make every note a world of its own" (Danish newspaper "Politiken") has taken him to stages in Asia and Europe and to almost every concert hall and jazz club in Scandinavia.

Bjarke Falgren has also made a name for himself as a film composer for several documentaries and television series such as "Præst søger Paradis" and "Cool Cats". For his work as a violinist and composer, he was honoured with four Danish Music Awards in 2010 and the Ellen & Svend Asmussen Prize and the Trelleborg Foundations Culture Prize in 2017. Bjarke Falgren organises the "Falgren and Friends Festival Night" every year in his home town of Næstved.

The Circle
Album

Harvest Song
Single

Re: Kleines Silber
Single

Bench on the Hill
Single

Train Home
Single

Droplets
Single

Sönke Meinen

Sönke Meinen, born in 1991 and raised in Ihlow/Ostfriesland, studied with Prof Thomas Fellow, Prof Stephan Bormann and Reentko Dirks at the Dresden University of Music, where he himself held a teaching position from 2019 to 2022. He has played concerts all over the world (Australia, China, Japan, Russia, Korea and almost all European countries) and performed at the biggest guitar festivals in the world, including the Bridge Guitar Festival (Netherlands), the Ullapool Guitar Festival (Scotland), the Ronda Guitar Festival (Spain), the Xiamen Week Of Guitar (China), the Presov Days of Classical Guitar (Slovakia), the Vienna Fingerstyle Guitar Festival (Austria) and many more. Participation in the "Acoustic Guitar Spectacular Tour" brought him to many of the most prestigious venues in Australia, such as Brisbane City Hall in 2017.

Sönke Meinen has won numerous awards - in 2016 he received honours at two of the biggest international guitar competitions: the prestigious "Guitar Masters" competition (1st prize) and the "European Guitar Award" (sponsorship award). He was also honoured with the "Eco Music Promotion Prize" in 2015 and the "Artesano Guitarist of the Year" award in 2016.

When he is not on stage in a duo with Bjarke Falgren, Sönke Meinen performs as a soloist or in a duo with guitarist Philipp Wiechert. Outside the stage, Sönke Meinen is a sought-after lecturer and workshop leader as well as the initiator and (together with Philipp Wiechert) artistic director of the "Freepsum International Guitar Festival", which has been held annually since 2011.

Photo: Michelle Jekel