Miha Gantar: Amsterdam based Slovenian pianist and composer, studied at The New School in New York, currently live and works in the Netherland. He leads the Miha Gantar Quartet.

"Marta Arpini (b 1994) is a singer, songwriter and composer from Crema (Italy), currently living in Amsterdam (NL)."

"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."

"Christian Lillinger (born April 21, 1984 in Lübben ) is a drummer, composer and percussionist of modern creative style and new improvisational music.

Lillinger studied at the University of Music Carl Maria von Weber Dresden at Günter Sommer from 2000 to 2004. Between 2001 and 2003 he was a member of the Bundesjugendjazzorchester.

Lillinger plays in the trio Gropper | Graupe | Lillinger, until 2015 under the name Hyperactive Kid, with the saxophonist Philipp Gropper and the guitarist Ronny Graupe, where he is largely confined to the conventional drum kit. In 2008, he composed his first band Christian Lillingers Grund, whose first two released albums were released at Clean Feed Records at the end of 2009 and 2013. In addition Lillinger works as a sideman with well-known musicians such as Rolf Kühn, Joachim Kühn, Miroslav Vitouš, Beat Furrer, Rudi Mahall, John Schröder, Barre Phillips, Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky, Wadada Leo Smith, Frank Gratkowski, Simon Nabatov, Tobias Delius and Axel Dörner, Thomas Lehn, Michael Wollny, Louis Scyvis, Bruno Chevillon, David Liebman, Edmund Lehmugruber, Theo Jörgensmann, John Edwards, Greg Cohen, William Parker, Joe Lovano and Tony Malaby. Since 2004 he has been working continuously in the EUPHORIUM, the international ensemble of contemporary performing arts and music around the Leipzig-based Oliver Schwerdt, especially in the trio with Schwerdt alias Elan Pauer and Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky. Since 2009, Lillinger has also been working in the Klaviertrio Grünen with Achim Kaufmann and Robert Landfermann, who presented a first album on the Portuguese label Clean Feed Records in 2010. Since 2010, Lillinger has also worked in the trio Dell Lillinger Westergaard, which also performed with John Tchicai. In 2011 he founded the Trio Starlight with Petter Eldh and Wanja Slavin, who moved his debut CD 2013 to the Swiss label Unit Records. With Eldh and Slavin he also founded the Quartet Amok Amor with the American trumpeter Peter Evans, who released his first album of the same name in 2015.

Lillinger is also a member of the following groups: Rolf Kühn Unit, Henrik Walsdorff Trio, Pascal Niggenkempervision 7, Ronny Graupes Spoom, Schmittmenge Meier, Marc Schmolling Trio, Wanja Slavin Quintett, Carl Ludwig Hübschs Drift, Hübschacht, Uwe Steinmetz Stream Ensemble, The upper class, Ember, Gerhard Gschlößl's group of four, Gerhard Gschlößls G9, KUU! And also plays with Joachim Kühn in trio.

From 2012 to 2013, Christian Lillinger was a member of the board of the Union of German Jazzmusicians."

"Axel Dörner (born 26 April 1964 in Cologne, Germany) is a German jazz musician (trumpet and piano) and composer.

Dörner studied piano in the Dutch town Arnhem (1988-89) and at the Music Academy in Cologne (1989-1996). From 1991 he studied trumpet with Malte Burba, and during his studies he collaborated with trumpeter Bruno Light in the "The Street Fighters Duo". At this time he also joined the ensembles "The Street Fighters Quartet" and "The Street Fighters Double Quartet" together with Matthias Schubert, Bruno Leicht, and Claudio Puntin. In addition the "Axel Dörner Quartet" was initiated (with Frank Gratkowski, Hans Schneider and Martin Blume). With saxophonist Matthias Petzold. he participated on the albums Lifelines and Psalmen Und Lobgesänge.

Dörner has resided in Berlin since 1994, and occurs in the most diverse settings like "The London Jazz Composers Orchestra" and with "Hedros" (together with Mats Gustafsson, Günter Christmann, Barry Guy and others). Since then he has contributed on more than 50 album recordings.

Dörner is distinguished mainly by his versatility. He bouth play the more traditional Bebop, just like he fits in to classic Free Jazz or electronic music. He playd with Otomo Yoshihide at the Donaueschinger Musiktage in 2005. Dörner play both solo concerts and collaborates with his trio "TOOT" (together with Phil Minton and Thomas Lehn) and "Die Anreicherung" with Christian Lillinger, Håvard Wiik and Jan Roder, and in Ken Vandermarks "Territory-Band". Dörner is an integral part of the Berlin scene of experimental new improvisational music. Dörner was given special attention for his interpretation of all compositions by Thelonious Monk, with the pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach and his own band "Die Enttäuschung" released on a three CD album (Monks Casino, Complete 2005)."-Wikipedia

"There are not so many jazz oboists but Maripepa Contreras is one of the best.

Born in Spain (Almuñécar, 1989), Maripepa started at the age of 5 with music. Thanks to her mother, who would take her by car to the conservatory since she was 11 years old, she got a higher degree in oboe performance at Conservatorio Superior de Música de Málaga (Spain), with teacher René Martín Rodríguez in 2011.

She entered in the world of jazz in 2013, taking lessons with Ernesto Aurignac who brought her talent into a new direction and give her the motivation to go further in music.

In 2018, she won the scholarship AIE Jazz Tete Montoliu to finish the bachelor of oboe jazz in the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with teachers: Jasper Blom, Simon Richter, Ben van Gelder and Ernest Rombout.​ Nowadays she is dedicating herself entirely to music as a performer, composer, arranger and she is teaching "oboe jazz" online and onsite.

She has played in "XXVIII Festival internacional de jazz de Málaga", "34 Festival Jazz Terrassa", "Festival de jazz de Sant Andreu (2015)", Grachtenfestival in Amsterdam (2017), 50 Voll-Damm Festival Internacional de Jazz de Barcelona (2018), Jazzahara (2019), etc."

"Ben van Gelder (1988) is regarded internationally as an authority on the alto saxophone. Peers and critics alike praise him for his unique sound, lyricism and personal approach to composition. His music is firmly rooted in jazz tradition but embraces many other musical genres and disciplines. Visual art in particular plays a prominent role in his musical practice, and often serves as a framework for his writing.

Van Gelder moved to New York when he was seventeen and spent a decade collaborating and studying with some of the most progressive artists in the world. His teachers included Guillermo Klein, Jason Moran and Lee Konitz. He formed a quintet of forward thinking peers (Sam Harris, Craig Weinrib, Rick Rosato and Peter Schlamb) and recorded three albums under his name. The ensemble toured extensively in Europe, Japan and the U.S.

During his stay in NYC, Van Gelder established strong ties with the Jazz Gallery, a venue that fosters artistic excellence and is known as a springboard for talent. Regular performances have allowed him to experiment with different groups and repertoire throughout the years. He has since played and recorded with many contemporary jazz luminaries including David Binney, Mark Turner, Ambrose Akinmusire and Ben Street. Van Gelder received a much sought after commission from the Jazz Gallery, which resulted in Among Verticals. The record, inspired by a painting of abstractionist Frantisek Kupka, garnered accolades in press publications worldwide. The music was arranged for and performed by several large ensembles, including the Grammy-Award-winning Metropole Orchestra, The Swiss Jazz Orchestra and the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw.

Van Gelder won multiple awards such as the Deloitte Jazz Award, the Gold Award, granted by the National Endowment for Advancement in the Arts and the Princess Christina Concours as a duo with his brother Gideon. Most recently, Ben van Gelder was commissioned by the BIMHUIS in Amsterdam for their first ever composition assignment. Besides leading his own quartet, Van Gelder frequently performs with guitarist Reinier Baas. They released SMASH HITS (a live registration of their performance with the Metropole Orkest) and Mokum in Hi-Fi. Ben currently resides in The Netherlands and is on faculty at the Conservatory of Amsterdam."

"Mafalda Oliveira is saxophonist who come from Portugal and is currently living and studying in Amsterdam, The Netherlands."

"Gideon Tazelaar (1997) is a saxophonist residing in New York where he studies at the Juilliard School. Gideon grew up in the Netherlands and started playing the saxophone when he was seven years old. Within one year he made his national TV debut performing in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. From the age of 11 he started to play professionally and played at the North Sea Jazz Festival almost every year, among others, with his own quartet. At 14 he was admitted to the Bachelor's degree program at the Conservatory of Amsterdam which he finished summa cum laude at the age of 18. Next to being acknowledged as a mature bandleader, he performed throughout many countries in Europe, in Russia and in the U.S.A. as a sideman with dr. Lonnie Smith's sextet, the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw, New Cool Collective, Dick Oatts, Eric Alexander, Johnathan Kreisberg, Benjamin Herman, Ruud Jacobs, Ferdinand Povel, John Engels etc.

Sonny Rollins, Sidney Bechet, Lester Young and John Coltrane are some of his musical influences."

"Joris Roelofs is a bass clarinettist and composer based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He began to study classical clarinet at the age of six, and he added the alto saxophone at age twelve. At sixteen, Joris performed the clarinet introduction to Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with the Orkest van het Oosten. He played lead alto saxophone in the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw (2003-2018), and for five years he was a member of the Vienna Art Orchestra. He has also played with Brad Mehldau, Lionel Loueke, and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, among many others.

After completing his master's degree at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam (2007), Joris moved to New York City. His debut album, Introducing Joris Roelofs (2008), features Ari Hoenig, Matt Penman, and Aaron Goldberg. The next two albums, Chamber Tones (2010) and The Ninth Planet (2012), feature Jesse van Ruller and Clemens van der Feen. Joris has also released two albums with his trio, featuring Matt Penman and Ted Poor: Aliens Deliberating (2014) and Amateur Dentist (2015). Icarus (2018), a duo album with legendary Dutch drummer and artist Han Bennink, is Joris' latest release.

Rope Dance: Light-Footed Music for All and None (release date: May 2021) is based on Nietzsche's parable of the rope dancer in Thus Spoke Zarathustra and features Bram van Sambeek on bassoon.

As a composer, Joris has written for solo piano; bassoon; big band; symphony orchestra and big band; as well as four clarinets andrhythm section. Last year he received a Composition Grant from the Performing Arts Fund (FPK) of the Netherlands to write two works based on Nietzsche's philosophy: the chamber music Nietzsche Serenade, for tenor voice, bassoon, cello, and French horn; and the duets Truth and Lies, for bass clarinet and bassoon.

Joris currently lives in Amsterdam and chairs the Clarinet Department (Jazz) at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. He teaches a master's course on music and philosophy, "Freedom and Improvisation." Joris's lectures "Great Philosophers on Music" and "Nietzsche's Muses" also explore the relationship between music and philosophy.

Joris writes philosophical essays and articles, frequently on Nietzsche-related topics. His most recent piece, "To Lie Beyond Good and Evil: A Musical Question of Truth," was published in the peer-reviewed journal Tijdschrift voor Filosofie. Joris is a member of the International Nietzsche Research Group in Stuttgart, Germany.

In addition to teaching and playing music, Joris is at work on a PhD dissertation on Nietzsche, improvisation, and the notion of freedom."

Eric Rojas is a bass clarinetist known for the band Sick Puppies and his work with Miha Gantar.

Marta Vilaça is a Port, Portugal flutist.

"Peter Mullen completed his Bachelor in Business and Economics at Trinity College Dublin 2019. Wanting to focus on his passion for music, he moved to the Netherlands where in 2021 he completed his Bachelor in French Horn Performance at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam after an extremely rewarding period with Cormac O'hAodain at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. He is presently in regular contact with Jonathan Lipton who has recently left the London Symphony Orchestra after a 32-year tenure.

As a french horn player he performs in Ireland and the Netherlands and has regular involvement with the Ulster Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, RTE Concert Orchestra, Irish National Opera and Northern Ireland Opera. He has also worked with Irish Chamber Orchestra, The Belfast Ensemble, Camerata Ireland and The Metropole Orkest.

Peter also has a great involvement in the musical community on the island of Ireland and regularly teaches and staffs in music schools and on courses for young people including the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin Youth Orchestra, National Youth Orchestra of Ireland and Ulster Youth Orchestra. He currently holds the position of Project Facilitator with Presto Project in St Ultans primary school.

Also to note is his involvement with the St Agnes Music Project in Crumlin for 10 years now where he currently directs the musical society and provides arrangements for the Late Starter Orchestra."

"In essence, Bruno Calvo is a jazz trumpeter, but he also displays influences from classical music and various other styles; one can hear that he grew up in Cádiz, the cradle of flamenco. In the past years Bruno has been performing in a variety of formations; from duo, quartet, quintet to big band. Including for example the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw, with which he performed during a week at the Birdland Jazz Club in New York City with special guest Dr. Lonnie Smith."

"Alessandro Fongaro is an Italian bass player and composer who lives in Rotterdam. Between 2014 and 2017, he was leading the Alessandro Fongaro 5et, a young quintet that debuted with their album 'No More noch less' (Mainland Records). During his study at Codarts, Alessandro won both the Erasmus Jazz Prijs (2014) and The Records (2014). After graduating from Codarts with a Bachelor degree, he moved to Amsterdam for a master course in jazz-contrabas (which he successfully completed in 2016).

Alessandro leads and writes music for the band CLOD !, where electronics, indierock and jazz are combined together. As a bass player, he performs and records with Koeniverse 3 ft. Joris Roelofs, Kika Sprangers Large Ensemble and Quintet, Sun Mi Hong Quintet, Robert Koemans Trio, BRAIN // CHILD, Allison Philips Trio, Rok Zalokar Trio, ROEST and others.

As part of Koeniverse3, Alessandro won The Records 2015 and as a member of the Sun Mi Hong Quintet he won the Dutch Jazz Competition in 2018.

During the past few years, he was also able to perform with musicians such as: Ben van Gelder, Reinier Baas, Jasper Blom, Bo van der Werf, Harmen Fraanje, Joris Roelofs, Tineke Postma, Joost Patocka, Mete Erker and Mark Schilder. Since 2017, Alessandro has been a guest teacher at Codarts, where he teaches improvisation and trains ensembles."

"Tijs Klaassen (1993) picked up the double bass at the age of 19 during his second year at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. Switching from bass guitar to completely focus on the instrument he loves the most. He studied at the faculty with jazz teachers Ernst Glerum, Frans van der Hoeven, Ruud Ouwehand and classical teacher Peter Leerdam. In the last four months of 2017 he studied with David Wong at the Boyer College of Music and Dance in Philadelphia. During his stay in the United States he took private lessons with Ron Carter, Orlando Le Fleming, Rick Rosato and Ben Street. He finished his master studies in 2018 magna cum laude."

Tristan Renfrow is an Amsterdam drummer, known for the groups Blik, Loran Witteveen Trio, New Dog, Orquesta Del Tiempo Perdido, and Salsa Manzana.

"Willem Romers (11-04-1993) is one of the up-and-coming drummers of his generation. His playing is described as: creative, energetic, fresh, combined with a clear and deep sound. "Feel at the right moment what the music needs and do it with total surrender". This makes Willem one of the most in-demand drummers in the current (inter)national jazz and improvisation scene.

In 2017 Willem completed his conservatory studies at Codarts Rotterdam. During his studies he was nominated as a finalist of the Erasmus Jazz Prize, he played in the Metropole Academy conducted by Vince Mendoza and he played concerts with the Codarts Bigband at the North Sea Jazz Festival.

His playing is currently reflected in the projects of Robert Koemans, Sebastiaan van Bavel, Sjoerd van Eijck, Kika Sprangers and Coal Harbour. Highlights with these formations were concerts at the leading Dutch venues and festivals (including Bimhuis, Lantaren Venster, Paradox, De Doelen, Transition, North Sea Jazz, Grachtenfestival, InJazz). In addition, several tours abroad followed, including Indonesia, China, Hungary, Norway and Belgium.

This year Willem started his own project together with Jesse Schilderink (Saxophone) and Jelle Roozenburg (Guitar). He composes the music for this adventurous trio and they jointly explore the possibilities of improvisation. He takes inspiration for his music from nature, landscapes, architecture, cooking, art and literature from expressionism (Marc Chagall, Henri Matisse, Edvard Munch)."