Lisa Ullén is one of the most distinguished artists on the Northern European contemporary art-music scene. Born in Seoul, South Korea, Ullén grew up in a quiet small town in northern Sweden. A graduate from the Royal Musical Academy in Stockholm, Ullén studied jazz piano at the University of Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
“Extraordinary is all I can say as I dive in to her unique approach. Ms. Ullen prepares the piano in her own way coaxing a variety of unique sounds, creating new sounds and textures along the way.” – Downtown MUSIC GALLERY
Dominic Lash is a freely improvising double bassist, although his activities also range much more widely and include playing bass guitar and other instruments; both writing and performing composed music; and writing about music and various other subjects. Based in Bristol, Lash has performed in the UK, Austria, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey and USA. For nearly a decade he was based in Oxford and played a central role in the activities of Oxford Improvisers; much of 2011 was spent living in Manhattan. In 2013 & 2014 he is taking part in Take Five, the professional development programme administered by Serious.
“”extraordinarily sensitive… Every pluck or bowing seemed to embody grace and purpose.” – Brian Olewnick, Just Outside
Sam Andreae is a musician active as an improviser and composer in the UK and Scandinavia. Currently living in Manchester, Sam approaches improvisation through the exploration of sound and abstract noise, developing extended uses of the saxophone both acoustically and through electronic augmentation. Originally trained as a classical musician he has developed his own musical voice through varied experiences in improvised, jazz and noise music.Sam has had the pleasure of recently performing with: Le Quan Ninh, Lisa Ullén, Christian Wolff, Julie Kjaer, Michael Duch, Daysuke Takaoka, Rachel Musson, Darren Moore, Tatsuhisa Yamamoto, David Birchall, Mette Rasmussen, Corey Mwamba, Alex Bonney, Kelly Jones, Olie Brice, Colin Webster, Rodrigo Constanzo, Anton Hunter, David Meier, Marlyn Crispell, Trio Riot, Silence Blossoms, Distractfold Ensemble and Strikethrough Me & You.
ALEX WARD
solo clarinetAlex Ward is a composer, improviser, and performing musician, working primarily with clarinet and guitar. His involvement in freely improvised music dates back to 1986, when he met the guitarist Derek Bailey. He subsequently took part regularly in Bailey’s Company events, and has gone on to become a major figure in British improvised music.His current work ranges from the duo Dead Days Beyond Help, in which he plays guitar and sings, his group Predicate who perform his compositions, regular improvising groups with Steve Noble, Kay Grant and others, as well as more ad hoc encounters with musicians as diverse as Thurston Moore, Joe Morris and Duck Baker. He brings a unique energy and inventiveness to all these projects, elevating them far above the ordinary and injecting them with a thrilling sense of danger and possibility.
MATILDA ROLFSSON
Solo Percussion
Matilda is a swedish percussionist based in Trondheim Norway currently now living in London where she will finish her master in free improvisation and the relation between free improvised music and dance at Trinity/ Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. With her basedrum, bells, gongs, bows, fingers, hands and brushes she’s exploring the instant compositions in the moment, dynamics, orchestrations, material, structure and chaos. To make rules and break rules- always with the question: Where is the music going, and where is the freedom?