Ensemble
(bass clarinet, artistic direction)
Gareth Davis is an artist, composer and musician living in Amsterdam. He plays clarinet(s), due to a somewhat impulsive purchase whilst window shopping in Covent Garden, London, around ten years before the turn of the century. The serendipitous location of a rather wonderful (and equally important, cheap) second-hand record shop a few steps from the bus stop required for seven years of schooling, combined with delivering newspapers on a daily basis, led to a somewhat eclectic, dusty and generally unclassified taste in music.
His activities cover sonic art and contemporary classical music through rock, improvisation and noise, with collaborations that have included premiering new written pieces by composers such as Bernhard Lang, Chaya Czernowin, Peter Ablinger, Toshio Hosokawa and Jonathan Harvey, and performing with orchestras including the SWR Symphonieorchester, Warsaw Philharmonic and Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid. Davis has worked with the Neue Vocalsolisten, Arditti Quartet, Elliott Sharp, Frances Marie Uitti, Robin Rimbaud, Merzbow, Christian Marclay and Peter Greenaway.
(double bass)
Dario Calderone is an eclectic sound artist, improviser and double bass player, born in Rome and currently living in Amsterdam. His artistic personality was shaped through collaborations with Peter Ablinger, George Aperghis, Robert Ashley, Pierre Boulez, Bernhard Lang, Annea Lockwood, Christian Marclay and many others.
He has performed with Klangforum Wien, and was a member of the Nieuw Ensemble from 2009 to 2019. Calderone is a member of Trio Feedback (Spain) and MAZE (Netherlands), and regularly performs as a soloist. His works combine visual art, graphic scores and field recordings, and have been presented internationally. He has released albums on Hat Hut, Kairos, Stradivarius, Unsounds and Moving Furniture Records.
(piano)
Jean-Pierre Collot was born in Metz. He collaborated intensively with the Ensemble Intercontemporain from 1993 to 1999, and was a member of Ensemble Recherche from 2003 to 2017. He has appeared as a soloist under the direction of Pierre Boulez, Emilio Pomàrico and Peter Rundel, and works closely with composers such as Helmut Lachenmann, Salvatore Sciarrino and Hugues Dufourt.
His solo CDs include Universe, Espaces Imaginaires and Marche Fatale, which have received critical acclaim for their virtuosity and depth. Collot continues to perform widely across Europe, Japan, China and the USA.
(trombone)
Born in Zug, Switzerland, Roland Dahinden studied trombone and composition with Erich Kleinschuster, Georg Friedrich Haas and Vinko Globokar. He holds an MA from Wesleyan University (studying with Anthony Braxton and Alvin Lucier) and a PhD from the University of Birmingham.
Dahinden specializes in contemporary music and improvisation, performing throughout Europe, America and Asia. Composers such as Peter Ablinger, Maria de Alvear, Anthony Braxton and Alvin Lucier have written for him. His CD Silberen was selected by The New Yorker as one of the “Top Classical Albums of the Year 2004.”
(electric bass)
John Eckhardt is a modern hunter-gatherer of all things bass. For nearly three decades, he has been deeply involved in the creation of contemporary music with an emphasis on interdisciplinary projects exploring ecology, evolution and diversity.
He has worked with ensembles including Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Modern, Musikfabrik and Ensemble Resonanz, premiering hundreds of new works. His recordings appear on Touch, Mode, Kairos and ACT, among others. Eckhardt’s work often explores acoustics, landscapes and histories through sound installations and photography.
(flute)
Daniel Havel studied at the Conservatory of Music in Brno and later earned an MFA at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. Since 2007 he has been a member of the orchestra of the National Theatre in Prague, where he serves as principal flute, and also performs with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and Ostravská Banda.
He has performed with many Czech ensembles and taken part in master classes across Europe, studying with leading flutists including Philippe Bernold and Peter Lukas Graf.
(voice)
Greek singer and voice pedagogue Anna Linardou is based in Athens and known for her work across Greek, Eastern and Western vocal traditions. Her practice integrates performance, pedagogy and community engagement, using the voice as a medium of transformation and cultural dialogue.
She has collaborated with Thanos Mikroutsikos, Andrea Molino, Chris Cutler, Arve Henriksen and Gareth Davis, and leads the Intercultural Choir of the Greek National Opera. Linardou’s recordings include Heterotopia, The Depths Above and Etidorpha.
(cello)
Pau Sola Masafrets performs both improvised and composed music with a focus on physicality and freedom. His compositions often draw inspiration from poetry, world music and other arts, written for specific people rather than instruments.
He leads the Pau Sola Quintet and collaborates in numerous cross-disciplinary projects at the border of improvisation, contemporary jazz and performance art.
(electric violin and viola)
France-born and London-based, Agathe Max is a composer and performer working in electroacoustic composition, sound design, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Her recent work Shadoww explores shadow work and self-reflection through sound.
She collaborates with projects including Abstract Concrete, UKAEA and These Towns, and has created soundtracks for films, dance and visual art installations.
(live electronics)
Prague-based musician and developer Mikuláš Mrva performs on electric bass, live electronics and long-necked lutes. His work bridges technology and performance, collaborating with ensembles and festivals such as Ostrava Days and Sounds of Now Vienna.
He is active in Stratocluster and PMP Orchestra, and helps develop Prague’s modal music scene focused on Eastern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern traditions.
(electronics, composition)
British electronic artist Robin Rimbaud, known as Scanner, explores the boundaries between sound and space. Since 1991, he has produced a vast body of work spanning installations, performances and recordings.
He has collaborated with Bryan Ferry, Wayne McGregor, Merce Cunningham, Miroslaw Balka, Laurie Anderson and Pauline Oliveros, and presented projects worldwide at venues including the Pompidou Centre, Tate Modern and the Royal Opera House.
(percussion)
Slovak percussionist Martin Švec lives in Brno and performs widely in contemporary music. A member of Ensemble Spectrum, he integrates electronic percussion into both new compositions and reinterpretations of modern repertoire.
Švec also performs with the National Theatre Opera Orchestra Brno and numerous orchestras across Central Europe.