"Pedro Melo Alves is one of the most unsettled new minds in Portugal, avid for something more, yet unknown.

Having been awarded with the Bernardo Sassetti composition award in 2016, distinguished as the National Musician of the Year in 2017 by jazz.pt and in 2019 with the Premio Internazionale Giorgio Gaslini he's been increasingly present in the European music scene, presenting his projects in events such as 12 Points Festival (2018), European Jazz Conference (2018) or Jazzahead (2019).

Born in 1991, in Porto, Portugal, Pedro starts studying music in 2000. Enrolls at the Jazz Drums superior course in 2011 at the Porto Superior School of Music (ESMAE), having lessons with Michael Lauren and Carlos Azevedo, and leaves the course in 2013 to study classical and jazz piano with Abe Rabade and Daniel Bernardes. The participation on several workshops in Portugal, Spain and Italy led him to meet and study with some of the contemporary jazz scene figures, such as Danilo Perez, John Escreet and Ralph Alessi. Enters in 2015 on the Musical Composition superior course at the Lisbon Superior School of Music (ESML), where he studies with Sérgio Azevedo, José Luís Ferreira and António Pinho Vargas.

Today he plays as a drummer and composer in innovative modern jazz bands (Omniae Ensemble, The Rite of Trio, In Igma), contemporary electroacoustic projects (his solo O, CACO.MEAL or his trio symph), improvised music (with João Paulo Esteves da Silva, Luís Vicente, Theo Ceccaldi, Ricardo Jacinto, Jacqueline Kerrod, Pedro Branco), instrumental rock (Catacombe), soundtracks for Theatre and Dance (with Schaubühne's Peter Kleinert, Carlota Lagido or his own art collective Caos) and erudite composition."

"João Barradas is one of the most reputable and widely acknowledged European accordionists, working simultaneously between classical music, jazz and improvised music.

He has won some of the most prestigious international classical accordion contests of which, among others, the World Accordion Trophy (CMA), which he has won twice, the Coupe Mondiale of Accordion (CIA), the International Castelfidardo Contest and the Okud Istra International Competition, stand out.

Despite his young age, João Barradas was the first ever classical accordionist to perform solo recitals in some of the most prestigious concert halls such as WienerKonzerthaus, Tonhalle Maag Zurich, Sage Gasteshead, Festival d'Aix en Provence, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Culturgest and he has played in Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Kolner Philharmonie, Philharmonie Luxembourg, Casa da Música Porto, Bozar Brussels, Philharmonie de Paris, L'Auditori Barcelona, Mupa Budapest, La Monnaie, Stuttgart Opera House, Sadlers's Wells Theatre London, Onassis Cultural Center Athens, L'Arsenal Metz, Sava Center Belgrade, Centro Cultural de Belém, Tribeca Performing Arts Center New York.

Alongside his activity as a classical musician, Barradas is one of the most active musicians in Jazz accordion nowadays. His first album as leader with the New York label Inner Circle Music, "Directions", produced by saxophonist Greg Osby, was praised highly by the critics all over the world and made to the restrict Downbeat's Best Albums of the Year.

At the same time, he starts being noticed by some of the top names of American Jazz, such as Joe Lovano, Nicholas Payton, Randy Brecker, Lenny White or Walter Smith III and his name comes up at the most important national and international Jazz festivals and venues.

As an outstanding improviser he has collaborated with various renowned musicians, namely Greg Osby, Mark Turner, Peter Evans, Aka Moon, Mike Stern, Rufus Reid, Gil Goldstein, Fabrizio Cassol, Jacob Sacks, Miles Okasaki, Jerome Jennings, Ben Van Gelder, Francesco Cafiso, Federico Malaman, Stephanne Galland, Fabian Fiorini, Michel Hatzigeorgiou, Wayne Escoffery, Philip Harper, Florian Arbenz, Tineke Postma, among many others.

João Barradas was nominated ECHO Rising Star 2019/2020 by the European Concert Hall Organization and BBC Music Magazine nominated the accordionist as one of the current year's classical music rising stars."

"Audrey Chen is a 2nd generation Chinese/Taiwanese-American musician who was born into a family of material scientists, doctors and engineers, outside of Chicago in 1976. Parting ways with the family convention, she turned to the cello at age 8 and voice at 11. After years of classical and conservatory training in both instruments, with a resulting specialization in early and new music, she parted ways again in 2003 to begin new negotiations with sound in order to discover a more individually honest aesthetic.

Since then, using the cello, voice and occasional analog electronics, Chen's work delves deeply into her own version of narrative and non-linear storytelling. A large component of her music is improvised and her approach to this is extremely personal and visceral. Her playing explores the combination and layering of the homemade analog synthesizer, preparations and traditional and extended techniques in both the voice and cello. She works to join these elements into a singular ecstatic personal language.

**Over the past decade plus, her predominant focus has been her solo work with the cello, voice and electronics, but she has more recently begun to shift back towards the exploration of the voice as a primary instrument.

"Audrey Chen has created an uncompromising and idiosyncratic music, tightly disciplined yet acoustically wild and heavy with implication. Her ultra-verbal vocalising, often reminiscent of the visceral and emotionally charged sound poetry of François Dufréne or Henri Chopin, exposes physiological aspects of utterance that are concealed within standardised articulation and day to day speech. Fleshy, breath-driven and flecked with spittle, Chen's voice emanates not just from her mouth but from an ensemble of upper body surfaces, channels, passages, and cavities." - Julien Cowley THE WIRE

Recent projects, aside from performing solo, include her long running voices duo with Phil Minton, duos HISS & VISCERA with modular synth player Richard Scott, BEAM SPLITTER with Norwegian trombonist Henrik Munkeby Nørstebø, and the "romantic noise duo" AFTERBURNER with Doron Sadja (electronics/light projection). Past projects include work with German conceptual artist John Bock, a duo with NYC abstract turntablist Maria Chavez, and a quartet with Nate Wooley, C. Spencer Yeh, and Todd Carter. Her new projects include a double duo/quartet with BEAM SPLITTER and STREIFENJUNKO's, Eivind Lønning and Espen Reinersten and MOPCUT with Lukas König and Julien Desprez.

Among her more recent album releases include, "By the Stream" with Phil Minton - Subrosa (Brussels), "Hiss & Viscera" with Richard Scott - Sound Anatomy (Berlin), "Rough Tongue", BEAM SPLITTER'S debut LP - Corvo Records (Berlin) and her long awaited new solo album "Runt Vigor" - Karl Records (Berlin).

Chen has performed across Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, Taiwan, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Canada and the USA.

Some festival appearances include: Festival Beyond Innocence (Osaka, JP), Maerzmusik (Berlin, DE), Klangspuren Festival (Schwaz, AT), NUMA Circuit (Tenerife, ES), Sound of Stockholm (Stockholm, SE), Kongsberg Jazz Festival (Kongsberg, NO), Jazz Saalfelden (Saalfelden, AT), Plateaux Festival (Torun, PL), Color Out of Space (Brighton, UK), Wels Music Unlimited (Wels, AT), 2PI Festival (Hangzhou, CN), Jazz a Luz (Luz-Saint-Saveur, FR), Festival Muzzix (Lille, FR), La Voix est Libre (Toulouse/Paris, FR), Total Meeting (Tours, FR), NowNow Festival (Sydney, AU), Uncool Festival (Poschiavo, CH), the Next Festival (Bratislava, SK), Colour Out of Space (Brighton, UK), Donau Festival (Krems, AT), Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville/FIMAV (CA), Festival Ecuatoriano de Música Contemporánea (Quito,Ecuador) and Wien Modern (Vienna, AT).

And venues such as: Covent Garden (London, UK), Radialsystem (Berlin, DE), Zacheta National Gallery (Warsaw, PL), Museé du quai Branly (Paris, FR), Radio France (Paris, FR), Theatre Bouffes du Nord (Paris, FR), Auditorio de Tenerife (Tenerife, ES), Teatro Colon (Buenos Aires, AR), Bimhuis, (Amsterdam, NL), Rote Fabrik (Zurich, CH), Teatro Fondamenta Nuove (Venice, IT), DOM (Moscow, RU), Anton Kern Gallery (NYC, US), Wiener Konzerthaus (Vienna, AT) and Robert Wilson's Watermill Center (Water Mill, NY, US).

In 2011, in addition to her performances, she was awarded the prestigious Mary Sawyers Baker Prize, an award that was established to support individual artists living, and working in Maryland. Since 2011, she relocated to Berlin, Germany from Baltimore, MD USA and continues to maintain an active international touring schedule.

David Harrington of the Kronos Quartet has described her work as "fascinating and gripping" and "possessing something extremely vital and vivid...." "

"Ignaz Schick is a Turntablist, sound artist, performer and composer. He was born in Bavaria and since the late 1995 he works and lives in Berlin where he became an active and integral force of the so-called "Berlin Nouvelle Vague" and the blossoming "real time music" scene. He has collaborated with numerous international artists (most notably Don Cherry & Charlemagne Palestine) and toured and performed in clubs & festivals all over Eastern- and Western Europe, Australia, Finland, Israel, Malaysia, New Zealand and USA. He released many albums on several labels and he was part of radio broadcasts and productions for ORF-Kunstradio, ORF-Zeitton, BR2, DLR, DLF, WDR3, DRS2 or Radio Copernicus. Furthermore he has been curating festivals of experimental music from the early 90s onwards (FAM, Erase & Reset, Tim Shifts, The International Turntable Orchestra...)."

"[Nuno Rebelo] was born in Torres Vedras, Portugal, in 1960. With a background in architecture and being a self-taught musician, he stood out in the world of Portuguese pop music, especially as the leader of Mler ife Dada, a legendary group from the 1980s in Portugal.

His musical influence extends to various areas, including music for films, theatre, and choreographies. In the field of dance, he created music for choreographies by renowned artists such as Vera Mantero, Mark Tompkins, Paulo Ribeiro, Aldara Bizarro, Joao Fiadeiro, Constanza Brncic, and Malpelo, among others. His contributions to emblematic events are also noteworthy, such as the anthem for the Universal Exhibition of Lisbon Expo 98 and the music for the fireworks at the opening of Porto 2001, European Capital of Culture. He was also the author of the advertising jingle for Lisbon 94, European Capital of Culture, which won the award for the best Portuguese advertising music in 1994.

His focus has been on the guitar, where he has developed a personal language through continuous research and experimentation. Since the 1990s, he has established himself as a reference in the field of free improvisation and has collaborated with a wide range of musicians, including Agustí Fernández, Agustí Martínez, Albert Cirera, Alexandre Frangenheim, Anna Subirana, Damo Suzuki, DjOLive, Don Malfon, El Pricte, Eric M, Gianni Gebbia, Graham Haynes, Hiroshi Kobayashi, Jakob Draminsky, Jean-Marc Montera, Joan Saura, John Bisset, Kato Hideki, LeQuan Ninh, Lliba Vilavecchia, Massimo Zu, Michael Moore, Michael Vatcher, Paolo Angeli, Peter Kowald, Ramon Prats, Rodelius, Shelley Hirsch, Tom Chant, and Víctor Nubla, as well as with most Portuguese improvisers.

In the field of improvisation with dance, he has performed in various European countries with renowned dancers such as Mark Tompkins, Vera Mantero, Steve Paxton, Lisa Nelson, Julyen Hamilton, David Zambrano, Constanza Brncic, Sonia Sánchez, Frans Poelstra, Boris Charmatz, João Fiadeiro, María Muñoz, Pep Ramis, Andrés Corchero, and Mathilde Monier. Nuno Rebelo is also known for creating sound sculptures, which have been exhibited in Portugal, Norway, and at the I-Park Environmental Art Biennial in Connecticut, United States.

He has shared his knowledge by conducting workshops on experimental techniques for the electric guitar in various Portuguese cities, as well as improvisation workshops in Portugal, Cape Verde, and Mozambique. Together with Mark Tompkins, they have led the workshop "Audible movement, visible sound," which explores the performative interaction between dance and music and has been held in various cities such as Strasbourg, Lisbon, Bucharest, Ljubljana, Vienna, Toulouse, and Mulhouse."

"Pianist Marta Warelis (1986) is a vibrant performer with a strong preference for improvisation and experimentation in all genres. She continually aims for instant composing on the basis of new sounds and influences. Her work draws inspiration from music across the globe including cumbia, Angolan dance music, as well as jazz, western classical music and the various schools of free improvisation. Born and raised in Poland where she graduated with honours from WSJiMR in Wroclaw, Marta moved to Groningen in 2010 to attend the Prins Claus Conservatory. In 2014 she found her place in Amsterdam, very quickly becoming an active member of the local improvisers' scene. Marta has appeared frequently in the Bimhuis, where in 2017 she was given a Carte Blanche in recognition of her remarkable talents. She performs with a variety of creative musicians including Michael Moore, Ab Baars, Mike Reed, Andy Moor, Joost Buis, dancers Lily Kiara and Michael Shumacher, as well with such groups as Hupata!, Omawi, Future Neighbor, Polyband, Edge Ensemble, Strings5, Xavier Pamplona, Warelis/Rosaly/Lumley/Dikeman and Bazooka."

"Violeta García is a cellist, improviser and composer born in 1990 in San Nicolás de los Arroyos, Buenos Aires, Argentina. She has been studying music since 1998.

Studies

She studied at the "Conservatory Astor Piazolla". She also has a Degree in Composition by "Conservatory Manuel de Falla" with Ricardo Capellano and she has a Degree on Musical Arts specializing in violoncello at "Universidad Nacional of Arts (U.N.A)".

She has played with a lot of improvisers around the world: Joelle Leandre, Uri Caine, Brandon Lopez, Chris Pitsiokos, Theo Ciccaldi, Rafael Delgado, Willem Shulz, Tristan Honsinger, Popular Music leaded by Jacques Morelembaum, Hank Roberts, Tony Malaby, Marcos Sanguinetti, Bomba del Tiempo, Gonzalo Aloras, Ana Maria Romano, Lito Vitale, Juan Carlos Baglietto, among others. She also studied classical cello with Stanimir Todorov (Bulgary) and Jorge Perez Tedesco (Argentine).

In 2015 she was selected by FNA to be part of a music residency of improvisation and composition directed by Ernesto Jodos, Oscar Edelstein, Marcelo Moguilevsky and Mariano Tiki Cantero in Bariloche, Argentina.

In 2018 she took part in a collaboration program at Art Basel in Faena Art Center to perform with Naama Tsabar (Israel- NYC) in "Melodies of Certain Damage #opus 2"

In 2019 Violeta has been selected to be part of a Music Summer Camp at Art Omi in New York city to perform and collaborate with other artist in residency from around the world supported by Williams Arts Fundation.

In 2020 she was supported by Ibermusicas to make a composition residency in Spain and had a support from ProHelvetia "Coincidencia" program to coordinate "Public Voices" with Griselda Fresler.

General

She is a performer in many art forms, including free improvisation, contemporary and experimental repertoire and collaborations with dancers and others artists. After years of studying classical and popular music on violoncello and, later contemporary composition and improvisation. Violeta realized that her own musical voice needed to emerge outside specific genres. At the moment she is eager to improvise, compose and create new sounds, experiment with extended techniques, prepared instrument and work with dynamic, rhythmic and original tuneful combinations. Now her primary interest is to open new sound spaces that invite the audience on an inner voyage.

Aside from these projects, she has been on tour in several opportunities with improvisers from Latin America, Europe and USA. She has been part of important experimental ensambles and collectives like: Nicotina es Primavera, El devenir del Rio, Blanco Teta, Monótonos Truenos, Dominga Tango, La Jaula se ha vuelto Pájaro y se ha volado, among others. In 2015 she found a digital label and musics series called TVL-REC (www.tvlrec.com) with Carlos Quebrada (Colombia) and Camilo Ángeles (Perú). It is devoted to publishing new music, experimental groups and collectives from Latin America and other countries."

"Described as 'exceptionally virtuosic and sensitive', South African harpist Jacqueline Kerrod is perfectly at home across multiple genres and performs throughout the United States and Europe.

Most recently, she has been touring internationally with composer and multi-reedist Anthony Braxton, both in duo and as part of his ZIM music ensemble. She was a founding member and co-songwriter of the pop duo Addi & Jacq, who were winners of NYC's Battle of the Boroughs in 2015, and recently toured her show, 'Harps Uncovered' featuring vocalist Hannah Sumner through 12 states of the US. Currently, she is working on a solo project further exploring her love of improvisation, songwriting, and use of electronics to augment and manipulate sound.

As a champion of contemporary music, Jacqueline has performed with the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), the Argento Chamber Ensemble, Talea Ensemble, Wet Ink, Alarm Will Sound, and Metropolis Chamber Ensemble. As a native South African, she is passionate about commissioning and performing music written by South African composers and has performed over a dozen works written for her. She has also performed with elite chamber groups such as the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players.

Described as an 'eclectic harpist' by Lucid Culture, her discography includes a recently released duo with Anthony Braxton on the 'dischi di angelica' label. Recorded live on May 27th, 2018 at the AngelicA, Festival Internazionale di Musica at the Centro di Ricerca Musicale / Teatro San Leonardo, Bologna, Italy. Available on Bandcamp.Contemporary music, 3 self produced albums with Addi & Jacq, Greg Spears' Requiem (New Amsterdam Records), Robert Paterson's Star Crossing and Book of Goddesses (American Modern Recordings), and MAYA - In The Spirit(Perspectives Recordings). Other notable recordings that feature Jacqueline include Tristan Murail's Winter Fragments (AEON), Anthony Braxton's Trillium J, and the single Crazy in Love by Antony and the Johnsons (Secretly Canadian/Rough Trade Records). Her recording, "Candlelight Carols" with Grammy®-nominated vocal ensemble Seraphic Fire debuted at #11 on the Classical Billboard charts.

She has performed with Kayne West, Antony & the Johnsons, Jane Birkin, Rufus Wainwright, Santigold, Jónsi & Alex, to name a few.Orchestral

Jacqueline has had the great fortune of playing alongside principal harpists, Deborah Hoffman and Nancy Allen in the Metropolitan Opera and the New York Philharmonic orchestras respectively, and as principal harpist with the New York City Opera, American Ballet Theater, American Symphony and the American Composers orchestras. She has performed for various Broadway and off- Broadway shows (Cinderella, The Producers, Beauty and the Beast, The Fantasticks and Donnybrook!). degrees / awards

Jacqueline began playing the harp at the age of nine in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she went on to receive her Bachelor of Music in performance with distinction from the University of the Witwatersrand under the tutelage of Ventura Rosenthal and Pauline Nossel. She was a finalist in the Jim Joel Music Prize and ATKV National Music Competitions. With the prestigious Oppenheimer Memorial Trust Foundation Scholarship, she moved to the US on the invitation of Nancy Allen to study with her at the Yale School of Music (Master of Music and Artist Diploma). During this period she spent her summers at the Aspen Music Festival as the Fellowship recipient and was the winner of the harp competition '01."

"Carlos Barretto is a reference in the Portuguese jazz music scene as a double bass player and composer.

Was born in Lisbon (Portugal), where he currently lives. Has lived in Paris (France) and Madrid (Spain). Played all over Europe, Cape Verde, Senegal, China, Macau, Morocco, Angola...

He also paints and has been doing ehxibitions along his shows.

Worked with:

Lee Konitz, Steve Grossman, Gary Bartz, Steve Lacy, Steve Potts, Tony Scott, Glenn Ferris, John Stubblefield, Art Farmer, Jack Walrath, Louis Sclavis, François Corneloup, Perico Sambeat, Roman Filliu, Gilad Atzmon, Carlos Bechegas, Rodrigo Amado, Marlon Jordan, Gerard Presencer, François Théberge, Bob Sands, Jorge Pardo, Andrej Olejnizack, João Moreira, Carlos Martins, Alipio Neto, Carlos Zingaro, Mal Waldron, Horace Parlan, George Cables, Kirk Lightsey, Alain Jean-Marie, Bernardo Sassetti, Brad Mehldau, Richard Galliano, Mariano Diaz, Fabio Mianno, Abe Rabade, German Kucich, Horacio Icasto, Júlio Resende, Mário Laginha, Barry Altschul, George Brown, Cindy Blackman, Joe Chambers, Jordi Rossy, Aldo Romano, Don Moye, Carlos Carli, Marc Miralta, Daniel Garcia, Guillermo Mcguill, Mário Barreiros, Markku Ounaskari, Ethan Winogrand, Juan Mas Barroso, Joel Silva, Karl Berger, John Betsch, entre outros (among others)"

"Natural from Lisboa, Sara Serpa is a singer, composer, improviser, that through her practice and performance, explores the use of the voice as an instrument. Recognized by her wordless singing, Serpa has been working in the field of jazz, improvised and experimental music, since moving to New York in 2008.

Described by JazzTimes magazine as "a master of wordless landscapes" and by the New York Times as "a singer of silvery poise and cosmopolitan outlook", Serpa started her career recording and performing with jazz luminaries such as alto-saxophonist Greg Osby, and Grammy-nominated pianist Danilo Perez.

Literature, film, visual arts, nature and history inspire Serpa in the creative process and development of her music. As a leader, she has produced and released seven albums, (with labels Sunnyside Records, Clean Feed, Tzadik and Inner Circle Music), the latest being a partnership with Portuguese guitarist André Matos, All The Dreams (2016), a successful follow-up to their debut Primavera (2014), which was noted by All About Jazz: "Their music is art at the point where minimalism and cangiante merge, resulting in an otherworldly sound that's utterly enthralling and completely unique."

Serpa's collaboration with her teacher/ mentor, Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellow pianist Ran Blake resulted in three recorded albums, providing fertile ground for the singer to explore/ interpret the Great American Songbook along with Film-Noir: Camera Obscura (2010), Aurora (2012), Kitano Noir (2015), the latter described by PopMatters as "wonderfully hypnotic".

Sara Serpa is a member of Mycale, an international a-capella quartet commissioned by MacArthur Fellow and avant-garde composer John Zorn, whose newest release Gomory (2015) was praised by The New York Times as "astonishingly beautiful, a high point in the series; it sounds medieval and new at the same time."

With literature has a source of inspiration, Serpa released the album Mobile (2011), title that refers to themes of travel and movement, reflects her passion for reading. Inspired by authors from Homer to Melville to V.S Naipaul, and featuring André Matos, Kris Davis, Ben Street and Ted Poor, it was noted as "work of art in motion" by the Chicago Jazz Magazine and outlined by JazzMan Magazine (France): "Serpa's commitment to this special and difficult project works wonders - it would be difficult not surrender to it."

Serpa's accomplishments extend beyond the jazz world. Serpa has performed/ interpreted music of contemporary composers such as Andreia Pinto- Correia, Derek Bermel (with the Albany Symphony Orchestra, conducted by David Allan Miller), Aya Nishina (Flora (2014), Guillermo Klein and Joseph C. Phillips Jr. (Changing Same (2015).

A New England Conservatory Master of Music (MM) in Jazz Performance, and a graduate from ISPA (Portugal) in Social Work and Rehabilitation, the Portuguese singer completed her Piano and Classical Singing Studies at Lisbon National Conservatory. She later fell in love with Jazz and Improvisation through the Hot Clube de Portugal's school, while working on her research thesis about Refugee Women in Portugal. She relocated to the United States in 2005 to attend Berklee College of Music, followed by New England Conservatory.

Serpa was voted as "Musician of the Year" in 2010 by the newspaper O Público, one of the major daily publications in Portugal, and was the cover of the U.S magazine Jazziz in 2012. Serpa has been voted and included by the DownBeat Magazine Critics Poll in the "Rising Star Vocalist" list for three times: 2014, 2015 and 2016.

She has performed her own music in Europe, Australia, North and South America, singing at international festivals such as Festa do Jazz, the Panama Jazz Festival, Festival de Jazz de Montevideo, Wangaratta Jazz Festival, Adelaide Festival, or venues like Bimhuis, Casa da Música, Village Vanguard, Jazz Standard, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Kennedy Center for the Arts, among others.

Currently, Serpa leads City Fragments, an ensemble featuring three voices (Sofia Rei, Aubrey Johnson), cello (Erik Friedlander), guitar (Andre) and drums (Tyshawn Sorey), which allows her to deepen and expand her passion for vocal music. Serpa has been working on a composition/suite inspired by French philosopher/ feminist Luce Irigaray's writings, to be recorded in 2017."

"Rafael Toral, born in Lisbon, 1967 has been intrigued by the potential of sound and the functions of music since he was a teenager. As a composer and performer, he has been deeply involved with Rock, Ambient, Contemporary, Electronic and Free Jazz music in different periods of his life.

Working with electric guitar and electronics, in the 1990's he created a blend of Ambient and Rock and recorded acclaimed albums like Wave Field or Violence of Discovery and Calm of Acceptance. By the early 2000's he arrived to a sense of accomplishment about his previous 15 years of work, also realizing the world needed a different creative response. He decided to start something new, as radically different from the previous phase as possible. In a transition to vulnerable action, he launched the alien-sounding Space Program in 2004, using experimental electronic instruments. It's been an ambitious long-term project exploring an approach to electronic music based on silence, through decision making and physical gesture, in a way inspired by post-free Jazz. The resulting music, "melodic without notes, rhythmic with no beat, familiar but strange, meticulous but radically free - riddled with paradox but full of clarity and space", has been described as "a brand of electronic music far more visceral and emotive than that of his cerebral peers".

In the last 15 years he's been thinking and practicing an understanding of silence as "space", with a clear function in music creation but also as a metaphor for social relationships and a statement on information and sensory overload.

Performing solo or in numerous collaborations (including Jim O'Rourke, Jim Baker, Sei Miguel, Chris Corsano, John Edwards, Evan Parker, Tatsuya Nakatani, Manuel Mota, Alvin Lucier, Phill Niblock, Christian Marclay, Sonic Youth, Rhys Chatham, Lee Ranaldo, C Spencer Yeh, and many others), he has been touring throughout Europe, Canada, USA, Mexico, South Korea, Japan, New Zealand and Australia.

Also active in visual and spatial arts, Toral has produced video and several installations from 1994 to 2003.

In 2014 he relocated to the mountains in central Portugal for a more sustainable life. In 2017, having concluded the Space Program's recording series, Toral is entering a wider field with multiple directions and possibilities. From his mountain studio, he also offers mastering services."

João Grilo is a Luxembourg-born Portuguese piano player.

Gil Dionísio is a cellist, vocalist and musician from Lisbon, Portugal. He is known for the groups Contos e Lenga Lendas de Gil Dionísio, Sons de Embalar Para Tempos de Guerra.

"Turkish artist living and creating in Porto, Ece Canlı's body of work has been guided by thoughtful research and blessed intuition, both as an academic and an artist. In this last field, she's been collaborating with a small but precious core of artists in bands like Live Low, Nooito with Angélica V. Salvi or Cobra`Coral with Catarina Miranda and Clélia Corona, opening a panoramic view over her own solo incantations. Vox Flora, Vox Fauna, her debut record from 2020, transports her voice to states of transcendence, in a liminal space where human nature at its most primordial and its elevation to trans-human states is mediated in an almost ritualistic manner through the use of extended techniques, meta-linguistic lyricism, ancestral voices and improvisation."