"Tom Johnson (born November 18, 1939 in Greeley, Colorado), is an American minimalist composer, a former student of Morton Feldman. He earned his Bachelors and Masters degree from Yale University. His pieces are most often based simply on mathematical and logical processes, such as tiling, which he attempts to make as clear as possible. His works include: The Four Note Opera, An Hour for Piano, Rational Melodies, the Bonhoeffer Oratorio, Organ and Silence, Riemannoper, and Galileo. He has also composed a considerable amount of music for the guitar including Alexandrins pour guitare (1989), Canon for Six Guitars (1998), Arpeggios for Guitar (2002), and Tinkelenberg Rhythms (2014). Johnson received the French "Victoires de la Musique" prize for contemporary composition (the French equivalent of the "Grammies") in 2001 for "Kientzy Loops". He lived 15 years in New York, but in 1983 settled in Paris, where he lives with his wife, the artist Esther Ferrer."

"Sven-Åke Johansson born in Mariestad (Sweden). Composer and musician, poet and visual artist, writer and initiator of several music and performance art productions among:" Die Harke und der Spaten", "...über Ursache und Wirkung der Meinungsverschiedenheiten beim Turmbau zu Babel" (Hebbel Theater Berlin, 1994), "Harding Greens - Symphony for Cardboard Packaging" (Sophiensaele Berlin 2010), "Irving Berlin in Berlin" (2013), exibitions, publications of books, last "In St. Wendel am Schlossplatz..." (Texte, 2013), LP, CD, and DVD. Major stylistic forerunner within improvisational music. In the 60s, he developed a European form of freejazz. 1969 establishing M.N.D. (Moderne Nordeuropäische Dorfmusik) with Eisbrenner and Goetz, same year its first vinyl production, "Westberliner Stadtmusik". Extended in the 1970s the drumset with performance practices for carboard, bassbow and foamrubber a.o. Cooperation with visual and performing artists, worldwide. Engagement as an actor in the Burgtheater Vienna, virtuosic drummer, performs also as a singer and narrator. Compositions a.o.: "Seewetter 69" (Radioplay commissioned by Deutschlandradio 2001), "Polis, Wachs und Pomade" (chamber piece for strings, wind instruments and voice, Donaueschinger Musiktage 2001) "MM schäumend"- Overture for Handheld Fire Extinguishers (Akademie der Künste, Berlin 2003), "Concert for 12 tractors", (1996), "Stereo für 8", (Berlin 2005), "Die neue Zeit ist pausenlos" (Berlin 2010). Runs the label SÅJ-CD/DVD Records, Participant in the Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art 2010. Wears suits by Sali Saliu."

"John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, arranger, producer, saxophonist, and multi-instrumentalist with hundreds of album credits as performer, composer, and producer across a variety of genres including jazz, rock, hardcore, classical, surf, metal, klezmer, soundtrack, ambient, and improvised music. He incorporates diverse styles in his compositions which he identifies as avant-garde or experimental. Zorn was described by Down Beat as "one of our most important composers".

Zorn established himself within the New York City downtown music movement in the mid-1970s performing with musicians across the sonic spectrum and developing experimental methods of composing new music. After releasing albums on several independent US and European labels, Zorn signed with Elektra Nonesuch and received wide acclaim with the release of The Big Gundown, an album reworking the compositions of Ennio Morricone. He attracted further attention worldwide with the release of Spillane in 1987, and Naked City in 1989. After spending almost a decade travelling between Japan and the US he made New York his permanent base and established his own record label, Tzadik, in the mid-1990s.

Tzadik enabled Zorn to maintain independence from the mainstream music industry and ensured the continued availability of his growing catalog of recordings, allowing him to prolifically record and release new material, issuing several new albums each year, as well as promoting the work of many other musicians. Zorn has led the hardcore bands Naked City and Painkiller, the klezmer/free jazz-influenced quartet Masada, composed over 600 pieces as part of the Masada Songbooks that have been performed by an array of groups, composed concert music for classical ensembles and orchestras, and produced music for opera, sound installations, film and documentary. Zorn has undertaken many tours of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, often performing at festivals with many other musicians and ensembles that perform his diverse output.

Zorn's compositions cross many genres and he has stated "All the various styles are organically connected to one another. I'm an additive person-the entire storehouse of my knowledge informs everything I do. People are so obsessed with the surface that they can't see the connections, but they are there." For Zorn "Composing is more than just imagining music-it's knowing how to communicate it to musicians. And you don't give an improviser music that's completely written out, or ask a classical musician to improvise. I'm interested in speaking to musicians in their own languages, on their own terms, and in bringing out the best in what they do. To challenge them and excite them." "