"In an artistic career that spans over twentyfive years, Andrea Centazzo has given more than 1000 concerts and live performances in Europe and the United States, as well as having appeared and performed on numerous radio and television broadcasts. He has recorded over 60 LP's and CD's, and has authored 350 compositions and eight musicology books. His musical endeavors and creative expression range from the sublime to the passionate, from lyric opera to orchestral symphony and solo percussion. He has performed in momentous festivals as soloist of his own compositions or as conductor of symphonic orchestras. Centazzo is a pioneer of contemporary percussion. In the early years, he performed with some of the greatest avant-garde soloists and composers, including J. Zorn, S. Bussotti, S. Lacy, D. Cherry, A. Mangellsdorf, E. Parker, etc. Deservedly, Centazzo has received a number of prestigious music and video Awards (Premio Speciale della Critica Discografica Italiana, USA Downbeat Poll, International Video Festival Tokyo, Prix Arcanal of French Culture, etc.) A doctoral graduate in musicology, he has taught seminars and workshops in Europe and the USA. Since 1983, Centazzo has been dedicated to creating multi-media experiences. This expansion began with an exhibition of his scores rendered as painted ideograms, and evolved into video performances combining both live performance with video images. These efforts culminated in his directing award-winning videos and films. As a soundtrack composer, he unites traditional instrumentation with current technological advances in musical expression through sampling machines and computers. These efforts give a new perspective to the fusion of sound and image through his theatre, television, video, CD rom, and feature film scores. The music of A.C. captures and expresses the rhythm and pulse of life by synthesizing the mystery of Oriental percussive vibrations with the timbral harmonic understanding of contemporary music and the soul of jazz and rock post-culture. A.C. continues to contribute his unique artistic vision to the evolution of contemporary culture."

"Sergio Armaroli is a composer, percussionist, vibraphonist, teacher and total artist. His actions resonate through various artistic and musical fields, that of jazz being, perhaps, his most practised. He declares himself to be a painter, concrete percussionist, fragmentary poet and sound artist as well as founding his work "within the language of jazz and improvisation" as an "extension of the concept of art"."

"Francesca Gemmo is a pianist, composer and teacher.

She graduated in Piano at the "FE Dall'Abaco" Conservatory in Verona, her city of origin, and in Composition at the "Giuseppe Verdi" Conservatory in Milan; in the same Conservatory he subsequently obtained the II level Academic Diploma for teaching Piano.

She has obtained significant prizes and awards in national piano competitions and her repertoire ranges from Baroque to contemporary music.

Her concert activity has led her to play in prestigious halls in Italy and abroad (Sale Apollinee in Venice, Center Le Phenix in Friborg, Konzerthaus in Weimar, Mudima Foundation in Milan, Museo del Novecento in Milan, Arsenale Theater in Milan , Seismic Area).

The attention to paths of experimentation and improvisation has favored her collaboration with authoritative artists such as Sergio Armaroli, Alvin Curran, Brunhild Meyer-Ferrari, Steve Piccolo, Walter Prati, Giancarlo Schiaffini, Elliott Sharp, Fritz Hauser.

As a composer she has to her credit several performances by important soloists and ensembles such as Irvine Arditti, Luca Avanzi, Sergio Scappini, Divertimento Ensemble, Trio Matisse; moreover, works have been commissioned from authoritative instrumentalists such as guitarist Magnus Andersson and saxophonist Daniel Kientzy."

"Elisabeth Harnik, free-lance composer and pianist, was born 1970 in Graz and lives in Gams (County of Styria/Austria). She studied classical piano and later - with Beat Furrer - composition at what is now the Univer sity of Music and Performing Arts, Graz.

The "repertoire" and it's extensions in composition and improvisation is her central focus. Harnik works within an electro-acoustic inspired sound-world, using unique preparations and extended techniques.

Performances include: Easterfestival Graz 2002, Hörfest Graz 2003/04/05, Styrian Chamber Music Festival 2003, Klangmühle Orth an der Donau 2005, Munich Ope ra Festival 2006, Mozart- Year Vienna 2006, Paul Hofhaimer Musiktage 2006, Composers' Forum Mittersill 2008, Haydn Year 2009, Festival 4020 Linz 2009, Sou ndings Festival London 2010, Opera Graz, Musikprotokoll/Steirischer Herbst 2011, E_MAY Festival Vienna 2011/2012, Klangspuren Schwaz 2012, Transart Festiv al Bozen 2012, Wien Modern 2013, Estonian Harpsichord Society Festival 2014, A udio ArtFestival Pula 2014 a.o.

She has worked with renowned artists and ensembles such as the Ensemble Zeitfluss Graz, the Ensemble 09 Linz, the Ensemble MusikFabri kSüd, the Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna, the Klangforum Vienna, the Ensemb le "die reihe" Vienna, the Ensemble Kontrapunkte Vienna, the ensemble Reconsil Vienna, the Ensemble PHACE Vienna, the Ensemble Platypus Vienna, the Hay dn-Trio-Eisenstadt, the Trio AMOS Vienna, the Trio EIS Vienna, the Thürmchen Ens emble Cologne, the Fidelio Trio London, the Cantus Ensemble Zagreb, the Ensemble mise-en New York and various national and international soloists.

She received a great number of rewards and prizes, most recently she was Artist in Residence at the OMI International Arts Center New York 2010 and Composer in Residence 2013 at the IZZM in Ossiach/Austria. In addition to her work as composer she appears as improvisator at various national and international festivals such as the V:NM-Festival, the Ulrichsberger Kaleidophon, the Nickelsdorfer Konfrontationen, the Artacts Festival St. Johann, the Music Unlimited Festival Wels, the Soundgrube Vienna, the Comprovise Festival Cologne, the Beethoven Fest Bonn, the A L'ARME! Festival Ber lin, the Jazz & More Festival Sibiu, the Alpenglow Festival London, the All Ears Festival Oslo, the Umbrella Music Festival Chicago, the Okka Fest Milwaukee, the Musi cacoustica Beijing, the SoundOut Festival Canberra/AUS a.o."

"Steve Hubback is from Barry in South Wales where his musical career began in 1978 playing in local rock and rock and roll groups and later attending the Barry Jazz and Improvised music Summer School where he met and was inspired by Tony Oxley. Gordon Beck. Evan Parker. Alan Holdsworth. Phil Wachsman. Trevor Tomkins. Roy Babington. Keith Tippet. Alan Skidmore. Fred Van Hove, Peter Brotzmann and many other great musicians. It was a life changing experience.

He started a jazz club in Barry in a big hotel which became well known in Wales and soon after a Friday night rock club in the same venue. After turning professional Steve left Wales for Paris in early 1981 which was a fantastic cultural and learning experience. During his time in Paris he first played in a rock 'n' roll group and later in the rock group Splat with Goffo and Joe Hamilton.. He also began performing solo and performed surrealist theatre with Italian Artist - dancer/sculptor Loredana Celi who is an amazing artist and Steve learnt a lot from Loredana about working with visual and movement as well as sound. In 1983 Steve also had the opportunity to perform in Versailles with the legendary Bob Vatel. 'He saw me playing in Paris and invited me to play a concert with him and that was a fantastic experience for me.

In the mid 1980's Steve founded and led It's My Head originally with rock guitarist 'Goffo' from London. Peformed in Denmark. Norway and Sweden. Goffo left in 1986 and Steve invited the phenomenal Swedish guitarist Jorgen Cremonese to join. The highly acclaimed debut CD was recorded in Aarhus with Danish guitarist R L Lunding from the band Picnic and the rest at Jorgen Sangsta's Urania Studios in Gothenburg Sweden with Jorgen Sangsta contributing a rythym track on Mime For The blind. Steve played drums, motorized guitar, keyboards and made recordings of live smashing glass and metal sheets dropped from a stairway in an abanded factory and recording angle grinders which are all intergrated on the recordings. Jorgen Sangsta played lead guitars and keyboards.Norwegian photographer Per Talleraas had joined the group in 1985 intergrating his film and slide projections and his photo's were always used on IMH covers and art. Most of the live performances were in Scandinavia and included a legendary performance at Hennie Onstad Senter outside Oslo. In 1988 through Dossier Records in Berlin Steve toured for 2 weeks in the DDR (East Germany) with Dietmar Diesner and performed solo at Druga Godba in Slovenia. Steve was also was in the original line up of the Danish chamber group Atlantis Transit.

In 1996 invited to tour South Korea as part of Lim Dong Chang's 'World is One' ensemble. That was an incredible experience. ' I learnt a great deal about movement and breathing and space in music through Lim Dong Chang. In 1996 together with Danish artist Harald Viuff co founded The Hydronorts in Denmark for very large scale performances. Steve created a series of floating sculptures along with Paul Burwell from Bow Gamelan Ensemble. The sculptures were moored in Kolding Fjord for the Summer of 1996. Later that year The Hydronorts gave large scale performances in Copenhagen harbour which included The Hot pipe Organ - Bastiaan Maris, Geo Homsey and Stock and high voltage sculptor Barry Schwartz.

In 2000 An invitation to participate in The Kortrijk Percussion project led by Belgian master drummer Dirk Wachtelaer and which featured English drummer Trevor Taylor. Dirk was working with his electronic sounds. Trevor Taylor was playing Sculptures Sonores by the Baschet Brothers and Steve was performing on his sound sculptures and percussion creations.

In 2002 In Iceland was founding member of the Icelandic group Jord Bifast together with Egill Johannsson and Siggi Hrellir. Due to logistics Jord Bifast only performed live in Iceland. That same year Steve formed Recreator together with Nick Le Beat and Theo Travis (Soft Machine and Steve Wilson of Porcupine Tree).

Since 1999 Duo performances and recordings with Dutch pioneer sax and reeds improviser Ad Peijnenburg. Also in 1999 Steve began performing and recording with Norwegian saxophonist and clarinetist Frode Gjerstad.

In 2008 Steve was invited to perform on The Large Hot Pipe Organ at Robodock in Amsterdam and Blast in Birmingham. 'I was playing electric drum pads to trigger the explosions in the pipes which was strange as the sound was generated a few seconds later. In London recorded together with Paul Clarvis on sound sculptures and gongs on the soundtrack of State of Play (Russel Crowe, Ben Aflack and Helen Miren) Music was composed by Alex Heffes.

In 2009 Steve began performing with the highly respected Celtic harpist Nadia Birkenstock. Their first performance was at the International Harp festival in Selstad outside Barcelona. They have continued since then as The Glow Within. Performing in Germany. Czech Republic. Italy. Netherlands. France. Spain and Portugal."

"Throughout an international career lasting for more than three decades, Roberto Ottaviano has been widely regarded as one of the foremost exponents of the soprano saxophone. After a chance meeting, he came to be tutored between 1980-1986 by the great Steve Lacy (other studies were in the USA with the likes of Ran Blake and George Russell, and in Europe with Luigi Nono and Giacomo Manzoni).

He has collaborated with a dizzying array of creative music luminaries: an incomplete list would include the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Art Farmer, Albert Mangelsdorff, Chet Baker, Enrico Rava, Franz Koglmann, Ray Anderson, Steve Swallow, Irene Schweizer, Kenny Wheeler, Paul Bley, Myra Melford, Keith Tippett, Misha Mengelberg, Nguyen Le, Han Bennink, Mark Dresser, John Taylor, Graham Haynes, Marc Ducret, Trilok Gurtu and Pierre Favre. He was also a member of the Italian Instabile Orchestra, and the seminal ensembles led by pianist Giogrio Gaslini. One particularly fruitful association, towards the end of the pianist's life, was with Mal Waldron, with whom he released the album 'Black Spirits Are Here Again' in 1996.

Ottaviano first encountered Hawkins' work through his performances with Louis Moholo-Moholo (with whom the Italian saxophonist has also performed and recorded). His first invitation to the pianist to collaborate was in fact not for a live performance, but for the sessions which yielded Ottaviano's 2014 double CD 'Forgotten Matches: The Worlds of Steve Lacy', an album which received many awards that year. Since this time, they have performed throughout Europe, and recorded a number of acclaimed CDs, including 'Sideralis' (featuring Gerry Hemingway and Michael Formanek), and their 2022 survey in duo of Mingus' music, 'Charlie's Blue Skylight'."

"Steve Piccolo (USA, lives and works in Milan, Italy). After studying at Bard College and New York University, he began his career in the 1970s playing bass in jazz groups and doing sound/performance in New York art spaces. In 1979 he started the Lounge Lizards with the Lurie brothers, a project which continued for about five years.

Active since the mid-1970s in music, theater, performance art, sound installations, video and film soundtracks. His activities as a musician, composer, artist, curator and teacher have become too numerous, frequent and varied to list them all here. He has exhibited/performed at the Kitchen, Franklin Furnace, Environ, Squat Theater, PASS, La Mama, Issue Project Room, The Stone (all in NYC, from 1979 to 2010), Zona Gallery Florence (1982), Galleria Peccolo Livorno (1982, 2006), Documenta 8 Kassel (1987), La Rada Locarno (1989, 2004), Japanese Institute of Culture Rome (2003), MAMCO Geneva (2003), Palazzo delle Papesse Siena (2003, 2005, 2007), Base Gallery Florence (2004), FRAC Bretagne (2004, 2014), Triennale Milan (2004-05-07-09), Villa Croce Genoa (2005, 2012), Berlin Jazz Festival (1981 and 2005), Technical Breakdown Copenhagen (2005-06), Swiss Cultural Center Milan (2005), Venice Art Biennale (with WPS1, 2005, and with performances in Belgian and Greek pavilions, 2015), Sant'Arcangelo Festival (2005), Itinerario Festival Cesena (2005, 2007, 2014), Galleria Mazzoli Modena (2006), Turchin Center for the Arts Boone NC (2006, with residency), Trinity College Wales (2006), Venice Music Biennial (2006), ArtBasel Miami (2006), Kettle's Yard Cambridge (2006), Babel Festival Bellinzona (2006), Moscow Biennial (2007), MiArt (2007), Swiss Cultural Institute Rome (2007), Spazio Mudima Milan (2007), SoundRes Lecce (2007), Experimenta Arts Festival Alberobello (2007), Performa New York (2007), Istanbul Biennial (2007), Body Process Arts Festival Istanbul (2007), Art Shakes Politics Messina (2007), Spazio Oberdan Milan (2008), Venice Film Festival (2008), Plektrum Festival Tallinn (2008), Venice Architecture Biennial (2008), GAM (now MAGA) Museum Gallarate (2008), City of Bergamo public art project (2008), Casino Luxembourg (2009), Metropolitan Museum New York (2009), City of Piacenza public art project (2009), Neon Bologna (2009, 2010), Parco d'Arte Vivente Turin (2010), Galleria Continua San Gimignano (2010), Loop Festival Barcelona (2010), Novara Jazz Festival (2010), (un)defined festival Merano (2010), Grrr Jamming Squeak Rotterdam (2011), TeatroStudio Scandicci (2011), group show I Miss My Enemies (collateral event Venice Art Biennial 2011), Festival of Imperial Gardens St. Petersburg Russia (2011) Isola Art Center Milan (exhibitions and local activism since 2002), Tirana Art Center (2011), Taller Seite Medellin (2011), Milano Film Festival (2011), Evento Bordeaux (2011), Auditorium Parco della Musica Rome (2012), Contemporary Locus Bergamo (2012), Festival della Filosofia, Modena (2012), MAAXI Rome (2014), Manifesta 10 St. Petersburg (2014), Vienna Secession (2014), Expo Milano (2015), Italian Cultural Institute Bratislava (2015), National Gallery of Arts Tirana, ONUFRI Prize (2016), Vienna Kunsthall (sounds for Nathalie Du Pasquier, 2016), Innsbruck International (with LF Nagler, 2016), Palazzo Reale Milan (VR project in exhibition by A. Pomodoro, with Oliver Pavicevic). Many of these projects were done in ongoing collaboration with Japanese musician/sound artist Gak Sato. Piccolo was sound curator at ArtVerona in 2008 and for the exhibition "Club 21" during Frieze 2010 in London, and curator of the project Chinatown Temporary Art Museum for Undo.net's participation at InContemporanea Milan in 2008. His collaborations on art video/performance/installation soundtracks include works with Adrian Paci, Luca Pancrazzi (including sound art group DE-ABC with Gak Sato), A Constructed World, Giancarlo Norese, Alessandro Mendini, Nathalie Du Pasquier, Gabriele Di Matteo, Marc Vincent Kalinka, Marzia Migliora, VedovaMazzei and many others. He has published many records (see discography on this website). He has taught art courses at Accademia Carrara Bergamo (2002-2014), NABA Milan (2005-13), and Politecnico di Milano (Piacenza campus). His writings have been published in many international journals, magazines and books, including 4 years of a monthly column for the magazine InSound and curating of sound art pages at the Undo.Net website. Steve was one of the active members of Isola Art Center in Milan (2001-2013), and is currently part of the magazine-collective E IL TOPO (since 2009). Projects for 2017 include a workshop at Galleria Nazionale Rome and a performance at Museo Vincenzo Vela (Ticino). He has founded and curates, together with Sergio Armaroli, a space for sound art and poetry in Milan, ERRATUM, and he is a founding member of the cultural association Città Sonora."

"Giancarlo Schiaffini: composer, trombonist, tubist, born in Rome in 1942.

He studies in Rome at regular public school, choosing classical address in the high school, and graduates in 1960.

1957: starts studying trumpet, switching two years later to trombone, composition and arrangement as self-taught.

1960: starts studying Physics at the University of Rome, where he graduates in 1965 discussing a work in Biophysics about "Physical and Chemical Analysis on Hybrids between DNA and RNA of Bacillus Megatherium".

In the meanwhile, he plays jazz and appears as soloist in the first free-jazz concerts in Italy, in Gruppo Romano Free Jazz with Mario Schiano, Marcello Melis and Franco Pecori. Subsequently presents his own compositions and arrangements widely in the mid 1960's.

In the same time he introduces himself into the "contemporary music" scene in Italy, in that time very lively and intriguing, soon becoming an outstanding performer, improviser and composer.

1966: plays as stage musician (tuba) in the Musical "Ciao, Rudy!", by Garinei-Giovannini-Trovaioli, starring Marcello Mastroianni. Later in the same year he starts working in a Transistor Factory held by Siemens, to develop first samples of Integrated Circuits.

1967: changes job to CNEN (National Committee for Nuclear Energy) in the Nuclear Studies Center in Casaccia (near Rome), as a Biophysicist, publishing on "The International Journal of Immunology", later working on the effect of radiations on Nucleic Acids in bacteria until 1975.

1968: plays in a Big Band with Lionel Hampton in Rome.

1970: He studies at Darmstadter Ferienkurse with Karlheinz Stockhausen, Gyorgy Ligeti and Vinko Globokar. In the same year he founds, with the composer/contrabass player Bruno Tommaso and the composer/clarinetist Jesùs Villa-Rojo, the chamber ensemble Nuove Forme Sonore, to explore the structural combinations between composition and improvisation in contemporary music.

1972: studies electronic music at Accademia di Santa Cecilia with Franco Evangelisti, and becomes member of the Gruppo di Improvvisazione di Nuova Consonanza (with Franco Evangelisti, Ennio Morricone, Egisto Macchi, Giovanni Piazza, Antonello Neri) until 1983.

1973: records the first LP leading his own group (a sextet) for the series "Jazz a confronto".

From 1973 to 1975 he writes music for short movies.

1974: founds the Gruppo Romano di Ottoni performing Renaissance and Contemporary music. Since the same year, the association Nuove Forme Sonore, born with the chamber ensemble in 1970, is awarded a annual Grant from the Italian Government, to perform contemporary music concerts in Italy and abroad; tours Japan with a band playing sound tracks by M° Rustichelli.

1975: leaves his work on Physics and starts teaching Trumpet and Trombone at the Conservatory "Gioacchino Rossini" in Pesaro. In the same year he premieres "Tre pezzi per trombone solo" by Giacinto Scelsi, and collaborates with John Cage during his Italian Tour.

1976: is among the founders of first Italian Popular Music School in Testaccio (borough of Rome).

1977: Plays with Globe Unity Orchestra in Modena (Festival dell'Unità)

1978: Performs in Reggio Emilia in English-Italian Impro Meeting (with Paul Rutherford, Evan Parker, Barry Guy).

1979: Plays in concert With ICPO led by Misha Mengelberg in Soncino; the concert is issued in LP (later in CD). With Alex Von Schlippenbach, Evan Parker and Paul Lovens plays as guest soloist with Italian Radio Big Band.

1980: composes the first of a long series of multimedia pieces ("I sette corvi", from Grimm's fairy tale, for instruments, tape and live images); changes Conservatory (from Pesaro to the Conservatory "A. Casella" in l'Aquila). Plays in concert at Teatro dell'Opera di Roma with Bill Higgins, Albert Mangelsdorff and Manfred Schoof, with Big Band of Italian Radio, presenting new compositions. Plays with Globe Unity Orchestra in Saalfelden.

Writes a treatise about improving technique and expression for trombone in contemporary music, published by Ricordi (Milan).

Since 1980, for ten years, he cooperates with composer Luigi Nono, as one of the soloists of his last great compositions (Guai ai gelidi mostri, Omaggio a Kurtag, Prometeo, Risonanze erranti, Post-Prae-Ludium per Donau).

1981: invited by the Centre for Contemporary Italian Culture, plays at New York University and gives lessons about compositions of G. Scelsi, L. Berio and improvisation, cooperating with D. Ghezzo and B. Fennelly.

1982: composes his second multimedia piece on fairy tale "L'usignolo dell'Imperatore", for trombone, tape and live images and premieres it at Farnese Castle in Genazzano; returns to NewYork University for concerts at Lincoln Center and lectures; leads for one month the Radio production "Il mestiere del musicista", broadcasted by RAI (Italian National Radio).

1983: gives a lecture about brass instruments at Musik Hochschule in Freiburs im Breisgau (Germany); premieres Luigi Nono's "Omaggio a Kurtag", in Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, in Florence, and starts working with live electronics at Heinrich Stroebel Stiftung of Süd West Funk in Freiburg im Breisgau (Germany); starts teaching at Siena Jazz International Summer School.

1984: premieres "Guai ai gelidi mostri" in Baden-Baden and the opera "Prometeo" by Luigi Nono at Biennale Musica di Venezia. Plays with Roberto Laneri's Group at Yatra Jazz Festival in Bombay. Composes music and plays for the theatre piece "Pentesilea" (from Kleist) by Gianfranco Quartucci at Hebbel Theatre in Berlin.

1985: plays revised version of "Prometeo" by L. Nono at Teatro alla Scala (Milan).

1986: premieres "Risonanze erranti" by L. Nono in Köln (West Deutsche Rundfunk). Records the LP " Infernal Dream" for Tuba and live electronics at H. Strobel Studio in Freiburg i. B. and "Well Actually" for Splasch in duo with singer Tiziana Ghiglioni; is the producer for a Radio Series of New Music compositions. Composes music for ballet "REM", ccoreographer Luisa Gay.

1987: plays "Prometeo" at Alte Oper, Frankfurt a. M. and at Festival d'Automne in Paris, Theatre de Chaillot; premieres in Donaueschingen "Post-Prae-Ludium per Donau", for tuba and live electronics, dedicated to him by Luigi Nono

1988: composes "Tautovox", chamber opera for soprano, alto, trombone, live electronics and images (text by Pasquale Santoli, images by Alfredo Profeta); composes "Musica Edulis", extended piece for trombone and live electronics (commission of Festival di Nuova Musica di Fiastra); plays at Milanopoesia Festival with singer Silvia Schiavoni and live electronics, starting a long cooperation in composition and performances. Plays at Luigi Nono Festival inaugurating the Kleine Philarmonie in Berlin.

1989: seminar in Villeneuve d'Avignon about the music of Luigi Nono.

1990: plays solo concerts in Mexico DC dedicated to Giacinto Scelsi; cooperates with John Cage in Erlangen (Cage Festival); is a co-founder of the Italian Instabile Orchestra, including the best Italian soloists and improvisers, which will become one of the most important band of this kind in the world.

1991: Records a CD in solo for RCA, dedicated to New Music for Trombone. Plays "Prometeo" By L. Nono in Gibellina; flies to Melbourne for concerts and clinics at Melba University and Monash University; composes "Tuba Libre" for Big Band (commission of Italian Instabile Orchestra).

1992: composes "Cambio di rotta", for soprano, instruments, live electronics and images, for the anniversary of the Discovery of America (Text by P. Santoli, images by Ilaria Schiaffini and Marina Bindella); records the CD "About Monk" with his Nonet.

1993: Composes "Snow over Ireland" with Silvia Schiavoni for voice, trombone and live electronics, first piece of the suite "Dubs", based on Joyce's "Dubliners", which will be recorded on CD (YVP) in 1997.

1994: composes "Là les nuites sont toutes belles" (text by Silvia Schiavoni) and "Descend sur la terre" (Text by P. Santoli), multimedia operas with live electronics and multivision images by I. Schiaffini and M. Bindella and premieres them at Acquario Romano; second tour to India for Yatra Jazz Festival, with his Quintet. With this group records the CD "As a Bird", dedicated to Charlie Parker; records as well "Edula", for trombone and live electronics. Is invited by UNEAC for seminar and concerts in Cuba. Invited in Amsterdam as guest trombonist, conductor and composer by Instant Composers Pool Orchestra (led by Misha Mengelberg), with Henry Threadgill for a short tour in Holland and Belgium. Composes soundtrack for "Nosferatu" by Murnau, to be performed live in tour with a vocal/instrumental ensemble.

1995: invited again in Cuba; writes "Energico, rarefatto, vivo" for harpsichord.. Performs all Nono pieces in a Festival held in Lisbon at Gulbenkian Foundation. Performs Nono's music at Hunter College (New York City) in a concert dedicated tu 100 Years of Hertz Waves, led by Luciano Berio. Composes a piece for 5 marching bands to be performed in Pollenza (Macerata)

1996: Composes music for Choir for a ballet in Modena, coreographer Teri Weikel, and for the coreographer Ugo Pitozzi, in Bolzano; co-ordinates and plays a profile of Luigi Nono, for New Music Concerts (Toronto). Starts a cooperation with Luca di Volo and Claudia Bombardella on Klezmer Music.

1997: composes "Litania Sibilante" (commission of the Instabile's Festival in Pisa); records the suite "Dubs", with text by Silvia Schiavoni based on James Joyce's "Dubliners", for voice, instruments and electronics, published by YVP (Germany), "Tuba Libre", for tuba and live electronics, (Random Acoustics, Munich) and "The Missing Chainring" for trombone and electronics for the new label "Imprint Records".

1998: resident composer and performer (Trombone, Tuba, Electronics) at Upic Centre in Paris, with final concert at Cité des Sciences; composes music for the ballet "Pinocchio", choreography by Karole Armitage (commission of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino).

1999: writes the sound-track for the film "Tartarughe dal becco d'ascia"; composes music for concert band (commission by MM&T, Milan); plays Improvised Music in Chicago (Empty Bottle Festival), Jazz in DC (with Peter Fraize Trio), Contemporary Improvised and electronic music at NYU Composers Forum (New York University); with singer Silvia Schiavoni composes "Rhapsody for Billie", dedicated to Billie Holiday, for voice, Baritone Horn, tape.

2000: is composer in residence at International Composers & Improvisers Forum in Munich, premiering "Concerto Grasso", for orchestra; composes for Italian Radio (RAI) "La grande porta delle pulci" (electro-acoustic piece), and tours Italy with Thurston Moore (guitar, Sonic Youth) and Walter Prati (cello, el. bass)-this tour is recorded for Auditorium; tours Canada with Italian Instabile Orchestra, which wins the Down Beat Poll, Big Bands TDWR; plays with Italian Instabile Orchestra in Europe Festival in Ruvo, guest soloist and composer Cecil Taylor; is invited by SKRAEP for concerts of improvised music in Copenhagen; composes a piece for crossing marching bands (commission by Cagli City Council); starts co-operation with Riccardo Santoboni in Myth Ensemble, founded by Dinu Ghezzo, for improvised electro-acoustic music; with Bruno Tommaso and Alfredo Profeta founds the independent CD label Imprint Records, and publishes "The Missing Chain-ring", for trombone and live electronics.

2001: composes and plays a series of live sound tracks for silent movies in Rome and Toronto (Cinemathèque Ontario); composes "Parata", based on Erik Satie's "Parade", for the "On the road Festival", commissioned by City Council of Pelago (Florence), for 11 musicians with ethnic players and dancers; sonorization of the Castle of Genazzano (Rome), commissioned by City Council of Genazzano; tours Japan with Italian Instabile Orchestra.

2002: plays at Banlieue Bleues Festival (Paris) with Italian Instabile and Cecil Taylor; gives two seminars at Third University in Rome about Luigi Nono's Music and his own production using improvisation and electronics; records CD and tours with "Rhapsody for Billie", with images by I. Schiaffini, in Toronto, Los Angeles and San Francisco, with great success; composes "Suoni per la pace" for a 15 instruments group, special guest Charlie Mariano, commissioned by "On the Road Festival" in Pelago (Florence); realizes Wassilij Kandinski music score for "Il suono giallo" (the Yellow Sound), commission of the Amiternum Festival in l'Aquila, in a version for dance, music, video and light designing; composes "Simm' nervusi" for the Instabile's Festival in Pisa, for 12 players and a visual installation of the artist Enzo Cucchi; plays at Improv Festival in Washington DC; seminar at George Washington University on Jazz composition; presents the CD "Post Deconstruction", published by Cadence (New York) and recorded with Peter Fraize Group in 2000 in Washington DC; composes the chamber opera "Common Sense" for voices, trombones and electronics (text by P. Santoli), and premieres it in Rome.

2003: tours with Italian Instabile Orchestra all around Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway; seminar at Conservatorio di Piacenza about improvisation techniques in Jazz and Contemporary Music. Composes for Italian Instabile Orchestra a sound track for Abel Gance's cult silent movie "Napoleon", performed in Giardini Scotto in Pisa (Commission of Provincia di Pisa).Plays at Sant'Anna Arresi (Sardinia) with Cecil Taylor and Italian Instabile Orchestra; performs Hommage to Luigi Nono in Antwerp and Bruxelles (Belgium). Composes a multimedia piece based on novels by Italian Writer Niccolò Ammaniti, text elaborated by Silvia Schiavoni, images by Ilaria Schiaffini, and with this show tours USA and Canada with great success (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Chicago, Toronto, Vancouver), performs multimedia "Rhapsody for Billie" at Loewe Auditorium in New York University.

2004: Performs an hommage to Italian composers Berio, Scelsi and Nono in Bogotà. Plays in Vancouver with Evan Parker and Walter Prati. Tours Colombia (Barranquilla, Bucaramanga, Bogotà) with the multimedia piece on Ammaniti. Tours with Italian Instabile in Spain and Germany. Composes a new multimedia piece about Umberto Boccioni (With Silvia Schiavoni and Ilaria Schiaffini) and performes it in San Francisco (Berkeley), Los Angeles and Rome. Composes new pieces for Great Wind Band to be performed for the Parmafrontiere Festival.

2005: tours Switzerland Austria and Germany with chamber piece "Ianus" by Swiss composer Daniel Studer. Plays an hommage to Giacinto Scelsi with Silvia Schiavoni (voice) and Walter Prati (cello & electronics) in Toronto, San Francisco, Bogotà, Milan and Rome. In Colombia organizes and participates to a great concert/event in the Catedral del Sal in Zipaquirà (an old mine converted to a cathedral) with soloists from Italy and Colombia. This last concert will be recorded and issues as a CD by Auditorium. Tours with Italian Instabile Orchestra in Canada (Toronto and Vancouver) and Italy. With Silvia Schiavoni and Dick Halligan founds "Cat's Pajamas!", dedicated to up-to-date performance of American Songs from the twenties to fifties. Performs with Silvia Schiavoni the multimedia piece (images by Ilaria Schiaffini) about The futurist Umberto Boccioni in Guanajuato-Festival Cervantino (Mexico), Teatro Colon and Universidad Nacional (Bogotà). Composes and conducts "Quanto Domani Luce", text by Schiavoni, images by Ilaria Schiaffini, at Lozano Auditorium with a Colombian chamber ensemble. Performs in Roma (Controindicazioni) with John Tilbury and Eddie Prevost. In November tours England (Leeds, Basingstoke, Manchester, Oxford, London/ Purcell Hall) with Italian Instabile Orchestra. The London Concert has been recorded by BBC and will be issued as a CD. Composes and performs music for ballet for Virgilio Sieni's Company.

2006: Records a CD (imprint IM 009) with Schiavoni and Halligan (Cat's Pajamas!: Zenone's Paradox): SplascH publishes a CD with first concert of Phantabrass, awarded as the best Italian Group in Musica Jazz Poll. Premieres a composition dedicated to Ibsen in Oslo at Nasjonalbiblioteket, text by S. Schiavoni and images by I. Schiaffini Composes "Como una candelilla", (text by S. Schiavoni) commissioned by Mazda Foundation and Italian Cultural Institute, for voices, instruments and images (by I. Schiaffini), and premieres it in Bogotà at Lozano Auditorium.

2007: Casa del Jazz in Rome dedicates him a 3-days-profile (duo with S. Schiavoni, duo with S. Tramontana, Phantabrass Ensemble). Composes and premieres in Milan at Piccolo Teatro a revision of "Three Pennies Opera" (Brecht-Weill) for Big Band, Combo and voice (Tiziana Ghiglioni), commissioned by Musica Oggi. Presents in Lugo a series of new arrangements of G. Gershwin's songs for Silvia Schiavoni and Phantabrass. Premieres his composition for Big band for the 500th Anniversary of Architect Barozzi, commissioned by Festival Jazz in It (Vignola). Premieres a composition dedicated to Edvard Grieg in Oslo at Nasjonalbiblioteket, text by S. Schiavoni and images by I. Schiaffini. Selected in the Category "European Legend of Jazz" for Eurodjango (Eurojazz Awards).

2008: Composes and premieres a new work inspired to Renaissance Composer Luzzasco Luzzaschi (Commission of Ferrara Conservatory). Continues and presents the complete series of arrangements of G. Gershwin's songs for Silvia Schiavoni and Phantabrass, performing all around Italy and recording a CD for Imprint. For the University of Tor Vergata (Rome) composes and performs a "Haec Ego" (text by Silvia Schiavoni, images by Ilaria Schiaffini) and a version of 3 parts of "Tierkreis" K. Stockhausen). In Buenos Aires Plays L. Nono (1st time in Argentina) and premieres at Teatro Coliseum "A cento metri comincia il bosco", multimedia opera, text and voice by Silvia Schiavoni. The same piece, in a version for Voice + Brass Ensemble, is performed at Mittelfest, in Cividale del Friuli. Starts working with Giorgio Baratta and Silvia Schiavoni with new compositions from philosopher Antonio Gramsci's work.

2009: Plays as a soloist in the opera buffa "Uma vaca flatterzunge" by Vitor Rua at Culturgest in Lisbon. Presents "Ho veduto volare" for "La notte dei Musei a Roma" in a new version for images, voice, tape + Phantabrass orchestra. The same piece, in duo version, is performed in Torviscosa (UD), Piedigrotta Festival (Napoli), Rio de Janeiro, San Paolo, Thessaloniki, Bucarest. Starts working with Parco della Musica Contemporary Ensemble (PMCE) on the project about Futurism "Uccidiamo il chiaro di luna", performing in Munich, Bratislava, Amsterdam (Bimhuis), Buenos Aires and Bahìa Blanca. Composes the Musical "Giove a Pompei. La vera storia", inspired to Umberto Giordano, commissioned by Orsara Festival and performed in Orsara and Pietra Montecorvino. Plays music by Luigi Nono and Adriano Guarnieri in Guanajuato (Mexico. Festival Cervantino). Composes "Guardando nella faccia della luna. Canto di Galileo", text by Silvia Schiavoni, performed in Buenos Aires and La Plata.

2010: Plays as soloist with Cosimo Cinieri in "Viandando qui e altrove" (poetry and music) in Rome Auditorium and Tel Aviv.. Performs "Ho veduto volare" in duo and "L'immagine di te sempre nel cuore", songs and poems from Liguria, In Buenos Aires. Plays in a new project by Enzo Favata "Os caminhos de Garibaldi na America". With Schiavoni, Trovalusci, Ruggeri works at a project about Predrag Matvejević "Cantare il pane" and performs it in Zagreb and Opatija.

2011: Tours widely with "Os caminhos de Garibaldi na America" and "Cantare il pane" projects. Performs as conductor at XXIX Rassegna di Nuova Musica in Macerata and in Ferrara. Plays multimedial piece about writer Niccolò Ammaniti in Slovenia. Writes a book about improvisation ("E non chiamatelo jazz" for Auditoium Edizioni-Milan).

2012: Plays at ICTUS Festival in NYC at The Stone. Tour in Switzerland with Daniel Studer et al. Conducts Italian Instabile Orchestra in Bari in a project for Europe Jazz Network 25th. Organizes a triple concert for John Cage with Goethe Institut Rom and Romaeuropa Festival with Tilbury, Schiavoni, Prevost, Brand and others."

"Elliott Sharp is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, and performer.

A central figure in the avant-garde and experimental music scene in New York City for over 30 years, Elliott Sharp has released over eighty-five recordings ranging from orchestral music to blues, jazz, noise, no wave rock, and techno music. He leads the projects Carbon and Orchestra Carbon, Tectonics, and Terraplane and has pioneered ways of applying fractal geometry, chaos theory, and genetic metaphors to musical composition and interaction.

His collaborators have included Radio-Sinfonie Frankfurt; pop singer Debbie Harry; Ensemble Modern; Qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan; Kronos String Quartet; Ensemble Resonanz; cello innovator Frances Marie Uitti; blues legends Hubert Sumlin and Pops Staples; pipa virtuoso Min-Xiao Feng; jazz greats Jack deJohnette, Oliver Lake, and Sonny Sharrock; multimedia artists Christian Marclay and Pierre Huyghe; and Bachir Attar, leader of the Master Musicians Of Jajouka.

Sharp is a 2014 Guggenheim Fellow, and a 2014 Fellow at Parson's Center for Transformative Media. He received the 2015 Berlin Prize in Musical Composition from the American Academy in Berlin. He has composed scores for feature films and documentaries; created sound-design for interstitials on The Sundance Channel, MTV and Bravo networks; and has presented numerous sound installations in art galleries and museums. He is the subject of a new documentary "Doing The Don't" by filmmaker Bert Shapiro."-Elliott Sharp

"Harri Sjöström (soprano & sopranino saxophone)

Born 29 February 1952 in Turku, Finland. Played piano, guitar and drums in his childhood. Studied music and fine art photography in San Francisco from 1974 - 1978; later film studies at the San Francisco Art Institute. Saxophone and flute with Harry Man, Leo Wright, Friedhelm Schönfeld, Steve Lacy; further piano studies at the San Francisco Conservatory; attended special class for contemporary improvised music at the Lone Mountain College led by trombonist Johannes Mager; composition studies at the electro acoustic music department at Hochschule Für Musik Wien, Austria; composition class led by composers Prof. Haubenstock-Ramati and Prof. Friedrich Cerha.

The joyful, creative and intensive experiences with contemporary music, contemporary improvised music studies, and visual art studies captivated him so much that he has worked intensively ever since with contemporary improvised music, precent tme composition and in mixed media projects including film, photography, visual arts, theater and dance. Has participated in master courses and workshops held by John Cage, George Russell, Steve Lacy, Bill Dixon, Daniel Kientzy, Vinko Globokar, Evan Parker, Cecil Taylor.

In 1980 -1985 he lived in Vienna, Austria, which became his doorway to the European contemporary music scene; formed his first groups and organized numerous artist exchange-projects in Finland and elsewhere. Brought many most notable innovators on the international contemporary improvisation scene to Finland. One of his early projects included a tour with Derek Bailey Company, which was their first in Finland; Bailey's visit in Finland was largely commented by the finish press as "the occurrence" of the year in the contemporary music scene; moved to Berlin in 1985.

Founded the international Quintet Moderne and; co-founded the The Player Is -trio with Teppo Hauta-aho and Philipp Wachsmann, Harri Sjöström as well as founding the groups: Quartetto Finlandia, Wait, Motström, Up and Out, ECIO, (European Composers Improvisors Orchestra), Sestetto Internazionale; Trio Internazionale; co-founded the MOVE - quintet; City Of Pyramids -Casserley, DJ Illvibe, Morgan, Sjöström; since 1989 in collaboration with the British guitarist John Russell in Russells international Mopomoso (MOdernism POstMOdernism) projects.

In 1990, Harri met Cecil Taylor in Berlin and has an extensive working relationship with the legendary pianist and composer on many projects like; Cecil Taylor Quintet Desperados: (Cecil Taylor, Paul Lovens, Teppo Hauta-aho, Tristan Honsinger, Harri Sjöström) Cecil Taylor Quartet- Qua, Cecil Taylor "New Unit" : (Cecil Taylor, Tony Oxley, Okkyung Lee, Jackson Krall, Harri Sjöström); and five recording releases with different C.T. ensembles; since the late 70s Harri performed at numerous international jazz and contemporary music festivals.

Additional collaborations in different projects with a.o. Bernahrd Arndt, James Andean, Yoko Arai, Matthias Bauer, Guy Bettini, Tony Buck, Sergio Castrillón, Angelo Contini, Markus Fagerudd, Emilio Gordoa, Frank Gratkowski, Teppo Hauta-aho, Steve Heather, Tristan Honsinger, Kalle Kalima, Achim Kaufmann, Veli Kujala, Jukka Kääriäinen, Okkyung Lee, Francesco Miccolis, Gianni Mimmo, Dag Magnus Narvesen, Heikki Nikula, Adam Pultz Melbye, Luca Pissavini, Günter Baby Sommer, Jone Takamäki, Janne Tuomi; Occasionally performs solo and is involved in making film music.""Harri Sjöström has been a saxophone teacher since 1980 and is a vital member of the European contemporary improvised music scene; he has composed music for film and is still active today with his photography."

"Born in Newark, NJ, Steve Swell has been an active member of the NYC music community since 1975. He has toured and recorded with many artists from mainstreamers such as Lionel Hampton and Buddy Rich to so called outsiders as Anthony Braxton, Bill Dixon, Cecil Taylor and William Parker. He has over 40 CDs as a leader or co-leader and is a featured artists on more than 100 other releases. He runs workshops around the world and is a teaching artist in the NYC public school system focusing on special needs children.

Swell has worked on music transcriptions of the Bosavi tribe of New Guinea for MacArthur fellow, Steve Feld in 2000. His CD, "Suite For Players, Listeners and Other Dreamers" (CIMP) ranked number 2 in the 2004 Cadence Readers Poll. He has also received grants from USArtists International in 2006, MCAF (LMCC) awards in 2008 and 2013 and has been commissioned twice on the Interpretations Series at Merkin Hall in 2006 and at Roulette in 2012.

Steve was nominated for Trombonist of the Year 2008 & 2011 by the Jazz Journalists Association, was selected Trombonist of the Year 2008-2010 , 2012 and 2014-2015 by the magazine El Intruso of Argentina and received the 2008 Jubilation Foundation Fellowship Award of the Tides Foundation. Steve has also been selected by the Downbeat Critics Poll in the Trombone category each year from 2010-2016.

Steve is presently a teaching artist through the American Composers Orchestra, Healing Arts Initiative , Mind-Builders Creative Arts Center (Bronx), the Jazz Foundation of America and Leman Manhattan Preparatory School.

Steve was also awarded the 2014 Creative Curricula grant (LMCC) for the project: "Metamorphoses: Modern Mythology in Sound and Words" which was taught in a month long residency at Baruch College Campus High School in Manhattan."

"Born in Barcelona, Vasco Trilla started playing drums at the age of nineteen. His first influences were progressive rock and metal, but gradually he developed an interest in a variety of different genres such as jazz, Indian music, African music, klezmer, free improvisation, etc.

Since then he has collaborated, toured and recorded with many different bands and projects such as Boi Akih (an ethno-jazz band from the Netherlands), Planeta Imaginario (progressive jazz-rock) October Equus (avant-rock), The Oddvisers (pop-avant), Fine! (indie pop-rock), Mundo Flotante (ethno-jazz-rock), Kaulakau/Cobla Sant Jordi (an ethno-jazz Catalan orchestra), Filthy Habits Ensemble (a jazz octet playing Zappa's and Stravinsky's repertoire), Cows On Trees (a jazz-improv quartet with Susana Santos Silva and Kaja Draksler), Balimonster (an impro-ethno duo with Angel Ontalva), Yedo Gibson-Vasco Trilla duo (an improv sax & drums duo), Outerzone (jazz-core), Reptilian Mambo (mambo free rock), Liba's Traum, etc.

In the last years he has been playing and experimenting on the free-improv scene, applying extended techniques to the kit and treating it as a textural-melodic instrument. Blowing, bowing, scratching, playing with hands and all kinds of objects, all is valid to expand the vocabulary of this innovative percussionist. He played with improvisers, such as: Lotte Anker, Marshall Allen, Yedo Gibson, Susana Santos Silva, Kaja Draksler, Jasper Stadhouders, Mikloaj Trzaska, Martin Kuchen, Richard Barrett, Jorma Tapio, Christher Bothen, Marc Stucki, Luc Ex. etc...

He has released around 30 CDs in labels such as Cuneiform Records (USA), Altrock Records (Italy), Leo Records (UK) Discordian Records (Barcelona, Spain), Audition Records (Mexico), El Negocito Records (Belgium), Jacc Records (Portugal), Fmr Records (UK)."