Pierre Favre is a Swiss jazz drummer and percussionist, born 2 June 1937 in Le Locle, Switzerland.

"When Pierre Favre began to explore new worlds of sound in drumming in the 1960s, he had already played with many internationally renowned Europeans and Americans as well as with prominent big bands. But it pushed him to an independent music. It all started in a trio with bassist George Mraz, then with Peter Kowald on double bass and from the start with Irene Schweizer on piano. "It is," says Pierre Favre, "a stroke of luck in a long, independent and yet joint development.

Searching for the melodic aspects of drums and percussion, Pierre Favre found his way to the solo. Together with Paul Motian, Fredy Studer and Nana Vasconcelos, he formed a percussion ensemble that increased the orchestral possibilities of percussive solo playing. "Singing Drums", a quartet with four percussionists, underwent a further transformation in the form of The "European Chamber Ensemble", a line-up with two percussionists, horns and strings.

In 2004, the city of Zurich honored Pierre Favre with the city's art prize."-Bert Noglik, Pierre Favre website

"Sergio Armaroli is a composer, percussionist, vibraphonist, teacher and total artist. His actions resonate through various artistic and musical fields, that of jazz being, perhaps, his most practised. He declares himself to be a painter, concrete percussionist, fragmentary poet and sound artist as well as founding his work "within the language of jazz and improvisation" as an "extension of the concept of art"."

"In an artistic career that spans over twentyfive years, Andrea Centazzo has given more than 1000 concerts and live performances in Europe and the United States, as well as having appeared and performed on numerous radio and television broadcasts. He has recorded over 60 LP's and CD's, and has authored 350 compositions and eight musicology books. His musical endeavors and creative expression range from the sublime to the passionate, from lyric opera to orchestral symphony and solo percussion. He has performed in momentous festivals as soloist of his own compositions or as conductor of symphonic orchestras. Centazzo is a pioneer of contemporary percussion. In the early years, he performed with some of the greatest avant-garde soloists and composers, including J. Zorn, S. Bussotti, S. Lacy, D. Cherry, A. Mangellsdorf, E. Parker, etc. Deservedly, Centazzo has received a number of prestigious music and video Awards (Premio Speciale della Critica Discografica Italiana, USA Downbeat Poll, International Video Festival Tokyo, Prix Arcanal of French Culture, etc.) A doctoral graduate in musicology, he has taught seminars and workshops in Europe and the USA. Since 1983, Centazzo has been dedicated to creating multi-media experiences. This expansion began with an exhibition of his scores rendered as painted ideograms, and evolved into video performances combining both live performance with video images. These efforts culminated in his directing award-winning videos and films. As a soundtrack composer, he unites traditional instrumentation with current technological advances in musical expression through sampling machines and computers. These efforts give a new perspective to the fusion of sound and image through his theatre, television, video, CD rom, and feature film scores. The music of A.C. captures and expresses the rhythm and pulse of life by synthesizing the mystery of Oriental percussive vibrations with the timbral harmonic understanding of contemporary music and the soul of jazz and rock post-culture. A.C. continues to contribute his unique artistic vision to the evolution of contemporary culture."

"Francesca Gemmo is a pianist, composer and teacher.

She graduated in Piano at the "FE Dall'Abaco" Conservatory in Verona, her city of origin, and in Composition at the "Giuseppe Verdi" Conservatory in Milan; in the same Conservatory he subsequently obtained the II level Academic Diploma for teaching Piano.

She has obtained significant prizes and awards in national piano competitions and her repertoire ranges from Baroque to contemporary music.

Her concert activity has led her to play in prestigious halls in Italy and abroad (Sale Apollinee in Venice, Center Le Phenix in Friborg, Konzerthaus in Weimar, Mudima Foundation in Milan, Museo del Novecento in Milan, Arsenale Theater in Milan , Seismic Area).

The attention to paths of experimentation and improvisation has favored her collaboration with authoritative artists such as Sergio Armaroli, Alvin Curran, Brunhild Meyer-Ferrari, Steve Piccolo, Walter Prati, Giancarlo Schiaffini, Elliott Sharp, Fritz Hauser.

As a composer she has to her credit several performances by important soloists and ensembles such as Irvine Arditti, Luca Avanzi, Sergio Scappini, Divertimento Ensemble, Trio Matisse; moreover, works have been commissioned from authoritative instrumentalists such as guitarist Magnus Andersson and saxophonist Daniel Kientzy."