Izumi Kimura, piano: "As a contemporary pianist, I am attracted to the things that live in the cracks between composed and improvised music. Between abstract and concrete, variations of the forms the Nature takes, our roles, cultures, languages, attitudes, things unknown, things in between, invisibles and inaudibles, all these things are vibrations I try to listen, through the act of playing the piano.

I was born in Yokohama, Japan, and have been playing the piano since I was little and the whole time I spent in Japan, which was up to 1995. As soon as I graduated from Toho University of Music in Tokyo I moved to Ireland. It took a long time and some turbulence of life before my music and life started to grow together. Very slowly, life and music started becoming intertwined with each other, and they are becoming one.

I have been lucky to work with lots of great musicians and wonderful people from both classical and jazz/improvised music fields. Musicians and ensembles I worked with include RTECO, Crash Ensemble, Ergodos, Music 21, Michael d'Arcy, Bill Dowdall, Kenneth Edge, Ben Dwyer, Cora Venus Lunny and many more from the world of classical music, and Ronan Guilfoyle, Barry Guy, Gerry Hemingway, Tommy Halferty, Michael Buckley, Dominique Pifarély, Benoît Delbecq, Stéphane Payen, Sarah Buechi and many more from the world of jazz/improvised music. The festivals I enjoyed performing in Ireland and abroad include RTE Living Music Festival, Boyle Arts Festival, Dublin Dance Festival, Dublin Fringe Festival, Bray Jazz Festival, Kilkenny Arts Festival, Ghent Street Festival of New Music in Belgium, Music 21's 'Brazil Now', 'Artes Da Irlanda' in Sao Paolo, Brazil, and Creative Connexions in Sitges, Spain, and many more."

"Frank Gratkowski, saxophone. Born in Hamburg, 1963.

Started playing the saxophone at 16 and, following a period at the Hamburg Conservatory (Hamburger Musikhochschule), moved in 1985 to study at the Cologne Conservatory of Music with Heiner Wiberny, graduating in 1990.

Further studies with Charlie Mariano, Sal Nistico and Steve Lacy.

Frank Gratkowski has been working as a soloist in various international formations (Grubenklang Orchester, Klaus Koenig Orchester, Musikfabrik NRW, Tony Oxley Celebration Orchestra, Bentje Braam, BikBentBraam, All Ears, Zeitkratzer, WDR Big band, etc.). Since 1990 he has been giving solo performances throughout Europe, Canada and USA. With his first solo program, he was a 1991 prizewinner in the Musik Kreativ contest. The release of the solo CD "Artikulationen" followed the same year and a new one "Artikulationen II" in 2002.

Since 1992 he has been working in a duo with the pianist Georg Graewe (CD "VicissEtudes"). The duo is often extended through the participation of different additional musicians, such as drummer Paul Lovens (CD "Quicksand") and bassist John Lindberg (CD "Arrears").

In 1995 he founded the "Frank Gratkowski Trio" with Dieter Manderscheid (Germany), bass, and Gerry Hemingway (USA), drums, (CDs "Gestalten" and "The Flume Factor" ). In 2000 the trio has been extended to a quartet by Dutch trombonist Wolter Wierbos (CDs "Kollaps", "Spectral Reflections", "Facio" and "Le Vent et la Gorge"). Since 2003 also appearing as a Double Quartet plus Tobias Delius, Herb Robertson, Wilbert DeJoode and Michael Vatcher. In 2005 he got the SWR Jazzprize.

In 1999 the duo with the Italian trombonist Sebastiano Tramontana has been formed and since 2001 Frank Gratkowski has been performing with a trio including Wilbert De Jode (NL) on bass and Achim Kaufmann (D) on piano (CDs "Kwast" and "Unearth"). Since 2006 he's working with the Trio Gratkowski / Brown / Winant (CDs "Wake" and "Vermilion Traces/Donaueschingen 2009"). He is also a co-leader / composer of the Multiple Joy[ce] Orchestra and got a commission to compose for the ensemble Apartment House by "November Music " (Den Bosch NL) and the "Huddersfield Comtemporary Music Fesitival" (England) in 2009. Further actual projects are Fo[u]r Alto, a saxophone ensemble dedicated to microtonal music and "Artikulationen E" a solo program for saxophone with 8 channel live electronic.

Frank Gratkowski played on nearly every German and on numerous international Jazz and contemporary music Festivals including Vancouver, Toronto, Chicago, New York, Seattle, Quebec, Les Mans, Muelhuus, Groeningen, Nickelsdorf, Barcelona, Lithuania, Warsaw, Zagreb, Prague, Bratislava, Sofia, Bucharest, Odessa and Roma, Huddersfield, London.

He has been teaching saxophone and ensembles at the Cologne, Berlin and Arnhem Conservatory of Music and is giving workshops all around the world.

Furthermore he has performed with Robert Dick, Phil Wachsmann, Radu Malfatti, Herb Robertson, Marcio Mattos, Eugenio Colombo, Peter Kowald, Ray Anderson, Michael Moore, Ken Vandermark, Greg Osby, Kenny Wheeler, Louis Sclavis, John Betsch, Jane Ira Bloom, Connie and Hannes Bauer, Xu Fengxia, James Newton, Muhal Richard Abrams, John Lindberg, Michael Formaneck, Ernst Reijseger, Fred van Hove, Theo Jörgensmann, Phil Minton, Peter Brötzmann, Mark Dresser, Mark Feldman, Hamid Drake, Michiel Braam, Han Bennink, Mal Waldron, Misha Mengelberg a.m.o."

Christian Weber: Doublebass, composition, electronics. Born in Zürich/Switzerland

1990 discovery of the Doublebass
1993-96 studies at the University of Music and Dramatic Arts Graz
1995-98 studies at the Bruckner Conservatory Linz with Adelhard Roidinger
1998 studies with Ernst Weissensteiner, Vienna
2000-06 operative and artistic management of the WIM Zürich
2000- music for film & theater, soundinstallations
2001 grant from the city of Zürich; composition commissioned by ProHelvetia
2003 Zürich culture award (Werkjahr)
2004- extensive touring all over the world
2007-13 guest lecturer at the University of Berne
2013- lecturer at the University of Lucerne



regular appearances

Sudden Infant, ensemble für neue musik zürich, Christy Doran's Bunter Hund, Die Welttraumforscher


festivals
Druga Godba (Ljubliana), Jazzfestival Zagreb, Jazz Meeting TelAviv, Jazz-Meeting Jerusalem, Jazzfest Wiesen, Hörgänge Wien, Jazzfestival Schaffhausen, AMR Festival (Geneva), Ice On Fire (Kuwait), Festival de Jazz Grenoble, Jazzfest Wien, unerhört!, Ulrichsberger Kaleidophon, Uncool Poschiavo, Jazzfestival Mulhouse, Wien Modern, Moers Festival, LEM (Barcelona), Jazzherbst Konstanz, Taktlos, Vision Festival (NYC), FIMAV (Victoriaville), Konfrontationen Nickelsdorf, Umbrella Festvial Chicago, Jazzfestival Willisau, Jazzfestival Belgrade, Fri Resonans Trondheim...


toured in
Switzerland, Austria, Germany, England, Ireland, Poland, Israel, China, Taiwan, Belgium, Italy, Slovenia, Kuwait, Croatia, Czech Republic, The Netherlands, Serbia, Spain, Japan, Russia, USA, Canada...


works/worked with
Lina Allemano, Bruno Amstad, Tim Barnes, Johannes Bauer, Ludwig Bekic, Han Bennink, Claudia Ulla Binder, Jeb Bishop, Andres Bosshard, John Butcher, Antoine Chessex, Gene Coleman, Collegium Novum, Lol Coxhill, Chris Dahlgren, Tim Daisy, Jacques Demierre, Bertrand Denzler, Robert Dick, Roberto Domeniconi, Michel Doneda, Christy Doran, Paul Dunmall, Markus Eichenberger, Ellery Eskelin, Peter Evans, Kai Fagaschinski, Pierre Favre, Peter K Frey, Charles Gayle, Gegenklang, Michael Griener, Andy Guhl, Uli Gumpert, Boris Hauf, Franz Hautzinger, Stefan Heckel, Gerry Hemingway, Gerhard Herrmann, Charlotte Hug, Ben Jeger, Russ Johnson, Jason Kahn, Vera Kappeler, Mazen Kerbaj, Hans Koch, Ritsche Koch, Jonas Kocher, Tomas Korber, Peter Kowald, Jesse Kudler, Joachim Kühn, Oliver Lake, Joke Lanz, Urs Leimgruber, Tony Levin, Werner Lüdi, Paul Lytton, Rudi Mahall, Phil Minton, Norbert Möslang, Michael Moser, Jon Mueller, Günter Müller, Simon Nabatov, Lucas Niggli, Noid, Evan Parker, Dave Phillips, Simon Picard, Wolfgang Puschnig, Christian Reiner, Wolfgang Reisinger, Paul Rogers, Roger Rotor, Olaf Rupp, Jorge Sanchez-Chiong, Julian Sartorius, Eric Schaefer, Philip Schaufelberger, Matthias Schubert, Willem Schulz, Irène Schweizer, Christine Sehnaoui, Sharif Sehnaoui, Elliott Sharp, Martin Siewert, Markus Stauss, Steamboat Switzerland, Michael Jefry Stevens, Co Streiff, Michael Thieke, Dieter Ulrich, Tom Varner, Colin Vallon, Walter & Sabrina, Matthew Welch, Chris Wiesendanger, Bo Wiget, Michel Wintsch, Stephan Wittwer, Nils Wogram, Christian Wolfarth, Michael Wollny, Nate Wooley, Katsura Yamauchi, Raed Yassin, Otomo Yoshihide, Michael Zerang, Matthias Ziegler, Alfred Zimmerlin, Philip Zoubek...

"Gerry Hemingway has led a number of quartet and quintets since the mid 1980's. In addition he has been a member of a wide array of long standing collaborative groups including Brew with Reggie Workman and Miya Masaoka, the GRH trio with Georg Graewe and Ernst Reijseger, the WHO trio with Michel Wintsch and Bänz Oester, as well as numerous duo projects with Thomas Lehn, John Butcher, Ellery Eskelin, Marilyn Crispell, and others. Mr. Hemingway is a Guggenheim fellow and has received numerous commissions for chamber and orchestral works as well as being noted for his innovative and multifaceted work as a solo performer which began in 1974. He was a member of the Anthony Braxton Quartet between 1983 and 1994 and is also well known for his collaborations with some of the world's most outstanding improvisers and composers including Evan Parker, Cecil Taylor, Mark Dresser, Anthony Davis, Derek Bailey, Leo Smith and many others. He currently lives in Switzerland having joined the faculty of the Hochschule Luzern in 2009."