ACOM.
Open to the next sound.
Mia Zabelka on the ACOM Electroacoustic Ensemble, musical encounters and the freedom to find a new direction together.
In conversation with Mia Zabelka · ACOM
Electronics transform a flute note. A synthesizer or an electric oud responds, and suddenly the music heads somewhere else. For Mia Zabelka, that is part of the appeal of improvising together: something distinctive can emerge without every step being settled in advance.
The ACOM Electroacoustic Ensemble grew out of the Austrian Composers Association’s specialist group for improvisation, sound art, electronics and electroacoustic music. It is an open ensemble whose membership and size can change from one concert to the next. Answering our questions is Mia Zabelka: violinist, vocalist, composer, ACOM vice-president and chair of the specialist group. She discusses the ensemble’s musical approach. The programme for 16 October 2026 at the Strenge Kammer in Vienna’s Porgy & Bess combines solo contributions with a closing collective improvisation.
An ensemble that stays open.
How did the ACOM Electroacoustic Ensemble come together? What appealed to you about exploring your individual ways of working together?
The ACOM Electroacoustic Ensemble was established by the Austrian Composers Association to bring together different musical approaches and artistic working methods in electroacoustics, sound art and improvisation. We are particularly drawn to opening up our own sound languages through a shared process, trying new connections and venturing into unfamiliar musical territory.
When sounds change one another.
Has there been a surprising sound or a response from another instrument that opened up a new idea?
It is especially exciting when sounds meet that you would not initially have associated with each other. Electronic processing can give a flute note a completely new dimension, while a synthesizer or the electric oud responds and takes the sound in an unexpected direction. Those moments often produce ideas you would never have found on your own.
Those moments often produce ideas you would never have found on your own.
From solo to shared sound.
How do you approach the transition from solos to collective improvisation? Do you pick up on things from the individual contributions?
The solo contributions offer an insight into each musician’s individual sound language. They can provide points of connection for the collective improvisation. We do not decide everything in advance: we deliberately leave room for spontaneous decisions and respond to what emerges in the moment.
Orientation and freedom.
More generally, what role can musical direction play in an improvisation? What can gestures and signals change?
Musical direction provides impulses through gestures and signals, creates transitions and can make the interplay denser or open it up. At the same time, careful listening remains crucial: we respond not only to those signals but also to one another. An interplay between orientation and freedom develops.
Listen with open ears.
What would you say to someone attending an electroacoustic concert for the first time? What might they listen for?
You do not need any particular knowledge or understanding: openness and curiosity are quite enough. It is worth listening to how sounds emerge, change, overlap and disappear again. What is especially exciting is that the music is created in the moment, and every instant can take a new direction.
ACOM
Interview by email · Editorial and image art direction: SCENE:ID. ACOM / bereitgestellt von Claudia Schade