José López-Montes [ES/CH] is a composer, improviser, visual musician, pianist and researcher. His works explore the interaction between algorithmic processes, improvisation, electroacoustics and synthesis of video integrated in with instrumental composition and dance. He has been guest composer at the Zurich Institute for Computer Music and Sound Technology, the Daegu International New Media Art Festival, the Institut International de Musique Electroacoustique de Bourges and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid. His piece Le Ton-beau de Frank (2003) was awarded and published in Synästhesie und Farblichtmusik, a project by the Zurich University of the Arts, the Berlin University of the Arts and the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin. Since then, his visual music has been published and documented in various books and recordings on synaesthesia and music.

López-Montes is professor of harmony, improvisation and mathematics at the Victoria Eugenia Conservatory of Granada. Currently he is developing techniques for artificial creativity applied to composition through metaprogramming based on the evolution of musical genotypes, in collaboration with the Artificial Intelligence Department of the Granada University.

lopezmontes.es

José María aka ‘JM’ Santandreu [ES/AT] is currently one of the most influential clarinet players due to his characteristic, profound sound. His quality as a performer, as well as his audiovisual projects, completely new to the clarinet world, has been praised by specialized critics. His version of the Sequenza for clarinet by Luciano Berio has been included at the discography of Official Center of Luciano Berio Studies in Italy. His performances has been broadcasted at national media.

He studied at the conservatories of Valencia and Vienna and has participated as a soloist in several chamber ensembles, as well as in diverse national and international competitions. He has collaborated with international soloists from the Berliner Philarmoniker and the Wiener Philarmoniker. Formerly clarinet soloist of Orquesta de Cámara de Valencia, he is the clarinet soloist of Universal Symphony Orchestra and collaborates with many other orchestras and ensembles. He is also a member of Ensemble d’Arts, premiering pieces for clarinet and electronics, as well as pieces for ensemble.

jmsantandreu.es

Akane Takada [JP/NL]  is a Japanese pianist living in The Netherlands. She graduated at the Tokyo College of Music, the Royal Conservatory Den Haag and the Rotterdam Conservatory, master in piano. She has studied with Ellen Corver, Aquiles Delle VIgne and Stéphane De May. As a soloist she has been awarded with the first prize of the Prix de Harmonie 2011, performing the Triple Piano Concerto by Beethoven, together with the Codarts String Orchestra under the direction of Arie van Beek at De Doelen, in 2010. She has also performed the Scarlatti sonatas in a broadcasted concert at the Anton Philipszaal. Her master research includes contemporary piano repertoire, specially the piano works by Stockhausen with Ellen Corver.

In 2009 she began her studies at the Ligeti Academy, instructed by ASKO  | Schoenberg Ensemble, where she specializes in ensemble works with directors and composers such as Emilio Pomarico, Reinbert de Leeuw, Louis Andriessen and Brian Ferneyhough.

She has developed her musical skills further and has learned to play koto [traditional Japanese instrument], Javanese gamelan and toy piano. She is also active premiering works by living composers at international music festival, as well as giving master classes.

akane.tehis.net

Carlos Gálvez [ES/NL] is a clarinetist specialized in contemporary music and bass clarinet. His musical interest goes from written music from 20th to 21st centuries, developing new repertoire working closely with young composers and improvisation projects. After his musical education with Harry Sparnaay at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam (1995-2002), Carlos co-founded several groups, like Insomnio Ensemble (clarinetist from 1998 to 2010), N Collective and DUOMETRIE (bass clarinet & percussion).

Carlos collaborates with ICTUS Ensemble, ASKO-Schoenberg Ensemble, Nieuw Ensemble, musikFabrik, Ives Ensemble, Klangforum Wien, Trio Arbós and Ensemble RESIDENCIAS, working under conductors and composers like Emilio Pomarico, Peter Eotvos, Reinbert de Leeuw, Stefan Asbury, Peter Rundel, Beat Furrer, Gerorges-Elie Octors, Oliver Knussen, Brian Ferneyhough, Gyorgy Ligeti, Pierre Boulez, Helmut Lachenmann, Franco Donatoni, Luca Francesconi, Bruno Mantovani, Wolfgang Rihm and Tom Johnson.

He has performed at many international festivals and has been soloist with the Nieuw Ensemble, Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Espai Sonor and Insomnio Ensemble. In 2000, after several working sessions with Pierre Boulez, Carlos Gálvez performed for the first time the version for bass clarinet and live electronics of Dialogue de l’ombre double. From 2008-2011, he has been teaching a bass clarinet seminar at the Vigo Conservatory in Spain.

carlosgalvez.eu

Matilda Hofman studied at Cambridge University, the Royal Academy of Music, and the Eastman School of Music, and also as a conducting fellow at the Aspen Music Festival and School. She has received awards from the League of American Orchestras, as well as the 2011 Thelma A. Robinson Award from the Conductors’ Guild.

Matilda is Music Director of the Diablo Symphony in Walnut Creek, California, and conductor with Empyrean Ensemble, a contemporary ensemble-in-residence at the University of California at Davis, California, where she currently lives. She also works regularly with the San Francisco-based Left Coast Chamber Ensemble with whom she recorded for the Innova label in 2011, and recently premiered Kurt Rhode’s chamber opera, Death with Interruptions. In 2014 she served as Music Director and conductor of Festival Opera’s double bill The Emperor of Atlantis and Another Sunrise. Reviews described her conducting as “taut and finely controlled” (San Francisco Gate), and as giving “a striking sense of purpose” (San Francisco Classical Voice). Matilda has also worked at the Sacramento Opera, and has assisted Michael Morgan on several operas including Pagliacci, Gianni Schicchi and Il Trovatore. She has recently performed with the Fremont Symphony Orchestra and served as a guest conductor at the Sierra Summer Festival in Mammoth Lakes, and works at the San Francisco Ballet.
Matilda also conducts regularly in Europe and elsewhere. In 2011 she performed Luigi Nono’s Prometeo at the Salzburg Festival and Berliner Festspiele with Ensemble Modern, alongside Ingo Metzmacher. Subsequent performances have included the Holland Festival and the Tonhalle in Zurich, the 2015 Ruhrtriennale and the Paris Autumn Festival. Other recent guest conducting appearances include the Bochumer Symphoniker, SWR Sinfonie-Orchester Freiburg, Kammerakademie Potsdam in Germany and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Canada in their New Music Festival in a performance which was broadcast on CBC radio. Operas conducted in staged performances include Così fan tutte, Le Nozze di Figaro, Turn of the Screw, Albert Herring, Carmen, Bluebeard’s Castle, and Der Kaiser von Atlantis, as well as new works.
Matilda is very committed to education and outreach and was Music Director of an outreach orchestra while a student at the Eastman School of Music. In this position she began a program to inner-city schools, which included concerts, mentorship, and support. As Music Director of the Diablo Symphony she is initiating an education program, which includes music in schools of the Contra Costa area and family concerts.
As part of her professional training Matilda has studied with Neil Varon, Martyn Brabbins, David Zinman, Kurt Masur, Sir Colin Davis, and Ingo Metzmacher, and has also conducted the BBC Philharmonic, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic, Rochester Philharmonic, and London Symphony Orchestra among others.

matildahofman.info

Alba G. Corral [ES] based in Barcelona is a Visual Artist and creative coder based in Barcelona. With a background in computer engineering, Corral has been creating generative art using software and coding for the past decade. Her practice spans across live performance, video, digital media and installation, exploring abstract narratives and expressing sensitivity and taste for colour. By combining generative systems with improvised drawing techniques, her digital language becomes organic, creating mesmerising digital landscapes. Corral is known for her stunning live audio-visual performances where she integrates real-time coding and drawing in collaboration with musicians. . Her works has been exhibited at festivals and events in Europe, México, Japan & EEUU.

blog.albagcorral.com

Juanan Ros is an Electronic Sound Engineer studying at UPV, Sound Engineer and Musical Producer. He teaches at MUSIKENE (Conservatorio Superior de Música del País Vasco).

He possesses a wide experience in all environments related with sound engineering and sound recording (studio, TV, theater, live sound…). During more than twenty years, Juanan has worked at several recording studios for many composers, artists, production firms and institutions. The non-stop seeking of new limits on sound quality and technological innovation leads it to him to specialize in acoustic and orchestral music, dealing with new multichannel audio formats.

Juan is a specialist on the recording and production of film soundtracks, classical music, jazz, and contemporary music. He has recorded professionally relevant orchestras world-wide, such as SIF 309, London Session Orchestra and Moscow Symphony Orchestra, important ensembles such as Ensemble Recherche, Diotima Quartet, Sigma Project, Kuraia Ensemble and Emerson Quartet, working with renowned conductors such as Deyan Pavlov, Lutz Kohler, Juanjo Mena, Claudio Ianni, Enrique Garcia Asensio, and Arturo Tamayo.