"He has been playing the violin for 30 years and in that time has played all genres of music ranging from contemporary music to free jazz and improvised music, live and in the studio.

His main interest shifted towards contemporary improvised and composed music.

The relationship with his instruments is focused in sonic and textural elements.

Electronic music was an early influence on his approach to violin playing, which challenges traditional romantic concepts of the violin/viola through use of preparations and micro tuning.

Active in different settings on the Portuguese scene for free improvised music, both as a collaborator and in leading his own groups.

Music for Dance, Cinema, Video and Performance.

Has created the record label Creative Sources Recordings in 1999, which mainly concentrates on releasing experimental and electro-acoustic music."

"Maria do Mar, violinist born in Lisbon, has a path marked by classical music and teaching, although she has always collaborated with artists from other musical areas. Since 2012, following her participation in the "Atelier de Improvisation et Direction de Ensemble in real-time (Conduction)" directed by Butch Morris, she began to explore free improvisation and other languages ​​in the contemporary music scene, taking part in a violin and Electric bass duo with the musician and composer Ricardo A. Freitas.She has developed improvisational work with various musicians, performing in concerts, cycles and festivals, with names like Carlos "Zingaro",., Joana Guerra, Ricardo Jacinto, Christophe Berthet, Maria Radich. In the context of the Moving Theater she participated in the Suzuki workshop / Viewpoints by Lowri Jenkins and Jane Pupo. She is seeking a broader musical universe and the development of a personal language, where the musical boundaries are fading and new possibilities opens up with no creative limits."

"Was born 1988 in Lisboa, Portugal and started playing cello and trumpet at Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa at the age of 7. In 1999 joined Conservatório Nacional de Música de Lisboa to study classical and music theory and in the current year recorded his first album - Multiples - with Ernesto Rodrigues and José Oliveira out on Creative Sources Recordings.

Apart from work in music ensembles ranging for contemporary classical to free improvisation, also works with live music poetry, theatre and film-music. After lengthy residency in Lisboa, (1988-2016) moved to Berlin and has been active as composer and improviser in the scene.

Worked with some international and renewed artists like Ernesto Rodrigues, Jean-luc Guionnet, Margarida Garcia, Manuel Mota, Alfredo Costa Monteiro, Sei Miguel, Tim Goldie, Jeffrey Morgan, Oren Marshall, Gerhard Uebele, Klaus Kurvers, Gabriel Paiuk, Nicolas Field, Jaime Fennelly, Blaise Siwula, Will Guthrie, Pawel Grabowski, Michael Thieke, Wade Matthews, Leonel Kaplan, Diego Chamy, Gabriel Paiuk, Barry Weisblat, Joe Giardullo, Jassem Hindi, Tisha Mukarji, Masahiko Okura, Taku Unami, Toshihiro Koike, Sharif Sehnaoui, Christine Abdelnour, Alexandre Bellenger, Carlos Zingaro, Romaric Sobac, Nuno Rebelo, Nuno Torres, Naoto Yamagashi, Heddy Boubaker, Gerhard Uebele, Guillermo Torres, Tomas Gris, Carlos Santos, Bruno Parrinha, Miguel Leiria Pereira, Miguel Ivo Cruz, Alberto Cirera, Nuno Morão, Mark Sanders, Dennis Gonzaléz, Alípio Carvalho Neto, Raymond Macdonald, Neil Davidson, David Stachenas, Lisa Ullén, D'incise, Cyril Bondy, Miguel Mira, Rodrigo Amado, Abdul Moimême, Monsieur Trinité, João Madeira, Álvaro Rosso, Gil Gonçalves, Marian Yanchyk, Filipe Passos, Rodrigo Pinheiro, Christian Wolfarth, Thanos Chrysakis, Bechir Saade, Kurt Liedwart, Miguel A. Garcia, Ilia Belorukov, Andrew Lafkas, Gao Jiafeng, Eric Wong, Johan Moir, Casey Moir, Magda Mayas, Matthias Muller, Alexander Frangenheim ...

Has performed and toured in all Europe. Released more than 30 albums of his own projects."

"Helena Espvall is a cello player who is comfortable in indie rock and improvised music circles. She was born and raised in Sweden, playing guitar and cello in rock bands and a silent movie orchestra. Moving to the U.S. and settling in Philadelphia in 2000, Espvall further explored Arabic music, performed with the Amnesiac Music & Dance Ensemble, and joined the contemporary psychedelic-folk group Espers, recording the CDs Weed Tree and II with them. Her penchant for playing free jazz has resulted in collaborations with guitarist Eugene Chadbourne. She is a featured artist with saxophonist/flutist Oluyemi Thomas on his recording Before the Beginning, and with From Quagmire on Habitats in the Wound. Espvall's debut CD as a leader, Nimis & Arx, from the Pax/Fire Museum label is produced by George Korien, where she plays cello, guitar, and recorder, sings and uses electronics. Other artists she has worked with include Katt Hernandez, Lukas Ligeti, Masaki Batoh, Gui Mallon, Nick Castro, Bert Jansch, Sharron Kraus, Fürsaxa, Vashti Bunyan, Samara Lubelski, Marissa Nadler, Damon & Naomi, Arborea, Curia, Golden Ball, the Valerie Project, Polineros, and Scorces.

Helena Espvall is a Swedish-American musician noted for her participation in the post-millennial psych-folk and free improv scenes. Her primary instruments are cello, guitar and voice."

"Born in 1958, studying guitar at the Academy of Music Amateurs, in the 70s, with Prof. Nagy. In the late 70 studying bass at the Hot Club, in the early '80s, with Prof. Zé Eduardo.

"Intrigue and permanent and persistent unease with stringed instruments, jazz and improvisation itself. During the last forty years, in concert, in private or in the studio, I had the honor of having played and learned (chronologically) Nuno Grande, Armindo Neves, Emilio Robalo, Celso Carvalho, António Ferro, Arthur Costa, Ze Bitch John Vinegar, John Lucas, Francisco Medina, Abdul moimeme, Rashiim Ausar Sahu, Patrick Brennan, Rodrigo Amado, Scott Fields, Francisco Trindade, Ernesto Rodrigues, Harvey Sorgen and Joe Giardullo.

Today, honor me play (and perpetuate my restlessness) with Rodrigo Amado, Abdul moimeme, John Lucas, Joseph Bruno Parrinha, John Parrinha, João Pedro Viegas, Alipio Carvalho Neto, Gabriel Ferrandini, Ernesto Rodrigues, Armando Gonçalves Pereira, Hernani Faustino, Rodrigo Pinheiro, Zé Lencastre, Louis Desirat, Peter Castello Lopes, Luís Lopes, Luís Vicente, Philip Sousa, Pedro Roxo, Johannes Krieger, George Lamprey, Marcello Maggi, Paulo Curado, Diogo Leal, D' Incise, Virginia and Eduardo Chagas. With some of my friends. I share my musical day in broader bands or ensembles, with other I highlight specific musical encounters and they are my entire curriculum." "

"After establishing his name during the Eighties as an electric bass guitarist in alternative rock bands, like the now legendary K4 Quadrado Azul, Hernani Faustino turned to avant-jazz and free improvised music and chose the double bass as his self-taught instrument. Two decades later of multiple interactions with Portuguese and international musicians, he's now considered one of the most intense and solid bassists in the Portuguese scene. The association he maintains with drummer Gabriel Ferrandini (RED trio, Nobuyasu Furuya Trio & Quintet, Rodrigo Amado Wire Quartet) has been pointed as a dynamic and powerful rhythm section. His visceral playing is well showed by the contortions of his face during a performance: he goes to the limits of pleasure and pain.

Music is his life: besides being a musician, he was one of the members of the label Clean Feed, considered one of the five more important on the planet in what regards jazz, and the Trem Azul Jazz Store, located in Lisbon. He also composed for theatre, produced radio programs, and wrote about music in a couple of magazines. A good part of his activity in photography is also music oriented: Faustino is one of the most accomplished stage photographers around. This says all about his passion and commitment.

Hernani Faustino's numerous meetings and collaborations with other improvisors is astonishing: John Butcher, Lotte Anker, Nate Wooley, Carlos "Zíngaro", Agustí Fernández, Sei Miguel, Rafael Toral, Jason Stein, Nuno Rebelo, Rodrigo Pinheiro, Gabriel Ferrandini, Pedro Sousa, Rodrigo Amado, Albert Cirera, Manuel Mota, Luís Lopes, Jon Irabagon, Taylor Ho Bynum, Gerard Lebik, Piotr Damasiewicz, Harris Eisenstadt, Neil Davidson, Heddy Boubaker, Gerard Lebik, Elliott Levin, Katsura Yamauchi, Mats Gustafsson, Chris Corsano, Nikolaus Gerszewski, Rob Mazurek, Reinhold Friedl, Ernesto Rodrigues, José Oliveira, Helena Espvall, Nuno Torres, Ricardo Jacinto, Blaise Siwula, Virginia Genta, Elliott Levin, Daniel Carter, Federico Ughi, Floros Floridis, Matt Bauder, Dennis González, Vítor Rua, and many more, covering a wide range from free bop to extreme experimentation, going through electroacoustic improv, reductionism and noise."

Alvaro Rosso is a Portuguese double bassist, a member of Variable Geometry Orchestra, ZMVR 4tet, Orgonite, Croniques 3, and String Theory.

Italian double bassist Gianna de Toni is a member of the Portuguese-based groups IKB and String Theory.

"Guitarist Miguel Almeida is also a researcher and educator, locate in the Lisbon area of Portugal. He is associated with Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Conservatório de Música de Sintra, and was educated at Universidade Nova de Lisboa."

"Abdul Moimême was born in Lisbon, in 1959, moving at an early age to New Mexico and later to Dublin, Ireland. He began studying the guitar at the age of 11, studying under various private teachers, in Madrid, Spain.

In 1979 he moved to Boston to study architecture, finally completing his degree at the University of Lisbon.

In the 90's he began studying the tenor saxophone with Patrick Brennan. In this period he became actively involved with Lisbon's improvised and alternative rock scenes, performing frequently with the Variable Geometry Orchestra since it's creation in 2003, as well as with various other local projects.

His main musical partners are from Lisbon and Porto, but he has also performed in public concerts with such artists as Gale Brand, George Haslam, Jon Raskin, Ken Filiano, Patrick Brennan, Steve Adams, and Wade Matthews.

In 1999 he started writing about jazz in various Portuguese publications and is currently a permanent collaborator of Jazz.pt magazine, and Publico newspaper, as a critic.

In 2006 he created Freemusic (http://freemusic.podomatic.com), a space exclusively dedicated to the promotion of Portuguese improvised music."

Biagio Volandri Verdolini is an instrument maker, a member of IKB.

"Andrew Drury grew up near Seattle (USA) and works primarily in avant-jazz and free improvisation, with regular forays into other genres and media. He has performed in Europe and North America, made five CDs as a bandleader, and appeared on over 20 others. He is an acclaimed leader of percussion workshops.

Drury began drumming in the sixth grade band at his school on Bainbridge Island, Washington. After spending a summer digging a basement under his parents' house with a shovel and pick he bought a drum set and began taking lessons from Seattle drummer Dave Coleman, Sr. He later studied with Ed Blackwell, Bill Lowe, Bill Barron, and the writer Annie Dillard at Wesleyan University. He is a self-taught composer.

Drury performs as a soloist, collaborates with adventurous musicians from around the world, and leads several groups that play his compositions. In addition to groups that he leads and frequent encounters with improvisers from various parts of the world he plays regularly with Jason Kao Hwang, Jessica Lurie, Reuben Radding, the Rat Race Choir, the Steve Swell Trio, TOTEM>, Nate Wooley, Jack Wright, and others.

Since 2002 much of Drury's music has been characterized by an exploration of new materials and techniques, and by the use of texture as a central organizing element. He frequently performs using one drum, scraping the head with wood slivers and fingernails, manipulating drum head tension and harmonic patterns with bells, using the drum as an acoustic filter and amplifier for vibrations produced on other objects, and using the drum as a wind instrument.

Drury's wide ranging interests lead him periodically to explore other media and formats. Inspired by the work and writings of visual artist Robert Smithson, Drury performed and photographed over 20 Earth Solos-site specific drum set solos in desert, mountain, prairie, and industrial settings throughout the western US. He co-created a street theater piece that he performed in streets and political rallies in Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Mexico in 1993. In his work with choreographers (Love of the New Gun, Self-Obliteration Companion, etc.) he has created collages of field recordings and percussion samples, with occasional live mixing, percussion, or prepared piano. His music for dance has been presented at DTW, Joyce Soho, NW New Works Festival, and five cities in Romania.

Drury has led nearly 1,000 percussion workshops and trainings for music teachers and since 1989. Participants have included people of all ages, backgrounds, and physical abilities in rural and urban areas in schools, prisons, museums, Indian reservations, festivals, villages in Nicaragua and Guatemala, as well as the graduate school of the Columbia University School of Social Work. In 2005 he drummed with homeless people and battered women in ten shelters in Indiana. Following a six-month "Millennium Project" residency with the Oneida Nation in 2000 the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation identified him as "one of the most skilled and experienced community artists in America."

Drury has received 18 grants for his work from the NEA, NYSCA, NYFA, the Seattle Arts Commission, the Artist Trust, the Puffin Foundation, and others. He lives in Brooklyn, New York (USA)."