"Hernán Samá is a saxophonist, improviser and composer from Buenos Aires. He is currently based in Amsterdam to continue his work. His main interest lies in the improvisation in his diverse expressions and in the sound investigation of his instrument. As a musician he has participated in several musical groups of jazz, free jazz and free improvisation."

"Born in Israel in 1986, Ziv Taubenfeld is a young, up-and-coming talent on bass clarinet and one of the best improvisers around at the moment. He first studied in Israel, then in the Netherlands. He lives in Amsterdam and has worked with, among others, drummer Han Bennink, clarinetist Ab Baars and composer-pianist Guus Janssen. Taubenfeld is currently the leader of the trio Bones whose other members are his childhood friends: drummer Nir Sabag and bassist Shay Hazan. Taubenfeld also plays with the bands Kuhn Fu, Plots and XPE. Hazan is also from Israel and studied at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. Drummer Sabag trained at the Israel Conservatory of Music in Tel Aviv. The trio's self-titled debut album was released in 2016. The second release by this Netherlands-based group is expected later this year."

Jan Willem Van Der Ham is a Dutch bassoonist and alto saxophonist born in 1985, performing in improvised and composed music forms. He has been a member of the bands Ammerlaans Octet, Ammerlaans Septet, Bik Bent Braam, Corrie van Binsbergen Band, Ed De Vos Trio, Ives Ensemble, J.C. Tans + Rockets, Joost Buis & Astronotes, Native Aliens Ensemble, Nieuw Artis Orchestra, Nieuw Sinfonietta Amsterdam, Orkest Amsterdam Drama, Sean Bergin and M.O.B., Sean Bergin's Song Mob, The Mulligan-Baker Project, Trio Continuo, The Metropolitan Orchestra, J.C. Tans Orchestra.

Miguel Petruccelli is an Amsterdam, The Netherlands guitarist known for the bands Jaap Blonk's Retirement Overdue, and Native Aliens Ensemble.

"I perform music together with others, both improvised and composed, but always with a sense of freedom and responsibility, for myself, for the music, and for the others. I understand that my body being in space is the expressive material with which I perform, using the cello as a tool. I compose music for specific people and not for instruments, very often using poetry, other arts and music from around the world as starting points. Even though I've spent many years in different studies*, how I learn and develop myself the most is playing, improvising, witnessing, and sharing with as many different and diverse artists as possible.

My own project is Pau Sola Quintet, an open composition talking about the relativity of time, using poetry by Lorca, South Indian music and a lot of improvisation. I'm also part of other stable projects at the border of free improvisation, contemporary jazz, contemporary classical, music theater and performance. 

*classical cello (CdBadalona 2007); graduate in composition (Esmuc, Barcelona 2012); post graduate in chamber music (Esmuc, Barcelona 2015); master in cello jazz specialized in carnatic music (CvA, Amsterdam 2019); Somatic dance practice (ELAP, Utrecht)"

"Jarno van Es is an Amsterdam based pianist, composer, producer and sound artist.

His music is not confined to borders, ranging from meditative piano improvisations to soundscapes, pop music and orchestral works. A collage of styles, mixing electronics with acoustics and integrating digitally processed field recordings or found footage."

"Renato Ferreira is a Brazilian-Italian composer, double-bass and saxophone player, improviser and music teacher originally from São Paulo, Brazil. He lived for 13 years in Amsterdam and is currently based in Rome.

He has been playing in a number of jazz, contemporary classical music, free improvisation and Brazilian instrumental music ensembles. He was a bass and double-bass teacher for many years at Amsterdam's Muziekpakhuis school, and currently teaches bass, double-bass, saxophone and guitar online to students of all ages based in the Netherlands, Italy and Brazil.

Renato has been an active improviser in Amsterdam since 2010, playing with musicians such as Burton Greene, Anne La Berge, Nora Mulder, Michael Moore, Yedo Gibson, Hans Houtman, John Dikeman, Jasper Stadhouders, Saartje van Kamp, Tobias Delius, Wilbert De Joode, Monica Akihari, Niels Brouwer, Nico Chientaroli, Ada Rave, Oene van Geel and many others.

In 2015, he founded the Native Aliens Ensemble, a group that combines his original compositions with free improvisation into an explosive mix with roots in traditional forms of Brazilian folk music. The Native Aliens Ensemble recorded a live CD at Teatro Munganga in Amsterdam, released by Trytone Records (2017), and performed twice at the Bimhuis in 2016 and 2017.

He was the double-bass player in the Amsterdam Big Band, playing all around the Netherlands and recording the CD "Nederland swingt" (2018). On tour in Japan with this band, he gave jazz workshops at the University of Nagasaki and in schools nearby.

More recently, he took part in the Music Of Inevitable Sounds, a project by the legendary bass player Luc Ex, joined by pianists Nora Mulder and Veryan Weston a.o., performing in several venues across Europe such as Konzerthaus in Vienna as part of the Wien Modern Festival, Teatro San Leonardo in Bologna, Italy, Korzo theater in The Hague and Tivoli Vredenburg in Utrecht, the Netherlands, and Festival Ars Musica at Les Brigittines, Bruxelles, Belgium. During this tour, the ensemble recorded a live CD, released by Trost Records (2020).

He played in the quartet Haffah with Hans Houtman, Christian Ferlaino and Herbert de Jonge, recording the CD "Senza titolo", released by Evil Rabbit Records (2017).

In Amsterdam, he played for many years in the Royal Improvisers Orchestra, together with some of the most exciting young musicians from the improvised music scene in Amsterdam and The Hague. With this group he performed several times at Amsterdam's Bimhuis, including collaborations with Han Bennink, Steve Beresford, Phil Minton and the London Improvisers Orchestra.

Between 2011 and 2020, he was a member of Groep Rood, a music-theatre group for children, performing in venues and schools all over the Netherlands, as well as in Belgium and Slovakia.

In São Paulo he joined the free improvisation group Coletivo Abaetetuba with Antonio Gianfratti, Yedo Gibson, Rodrigo Montoya, Thomas Rohrer. This was the first large free improvisation ensemble in Brazil. With this group, he performed in several venues in Brazil and in Europe and recorded four albums between 2005 and 2007, one of them with the participation of London-based cellist Marcio Mattos. In 2009, this group was invited to play at the XIII International Hurta Cordel Festival in Madrid, Spain.

Also in São Paulo, he was a member of the ensemble of Ricardo Zohyo, a long-term collaborator of Hermeto Pascoal, studying many forms of Brazilian folklore as well as Brazilian instrumental music.

He graduated at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague (BA and MA), where he studied contemporary composition with Martijn Padding, Cornelis De Bondt and Gilius van Bergeijk among others. He also obtained a teaching diploma at the Aslan music centre in Amsterdam."

Onno Govaert is a drumer from Amsterdamn performing free jazz, swing and rock. He is a member of Cactus Truck with Jasper Stadhouders and Wilbert de Joode, and has also recorded with Andy Moor, Colin McLean, and John Dikeman, and with Dave Rempis and Frank Rosaly.

"Nico Chientaroli (Buenos Aires, 1982)

Argentinian pianist, improviser and composer Nico Chientaroli started his career playing with different bands in Buenos Aires. He always felt strongly attracted to improvisation. Therefore he formed his trio recording three albums where he explored improvisation through his compositions. He also participated in many projects related to jazz and improvisation in Buenos Aires. He moved to Amsterdam in 2013 to continue with his work and development.

As a pianist, he explores and expands the boundaries of the piano developing a very personal way of playing. In reviews his music is described as "a magnificent and extraordinary journey of sound. Some Improvisations enable beautifully structured and impressively melodic textures to surface."

Until now, Nico Chientaroli has played with improvisers such as Ab Baars, Ig Henneman, Michael Moore, Mary Oliver, Wolter Wierbos, Michael Vatcher, Ada Rave, Raoul van der Weide, Richard Barret, Carlo Mascolo, Felicity Provan, Mars Williams, Wilbert De Joode, Nicola Hein, William Parker, John Dikeman, Carl Ludwig Hübsch, Jasper Stadhouders, Onno Govaert, dancers Kenzo Kusuda, Ana Leonor Ladas and Makiko Ito among others."