Fred Frith is a pioneer of the extended electric guitar. He learned to compose in Henry Cow, developed his song-writing skills in Art Bears, explored his multi- instrumentalism in Skeleton Crew, rocked the house with Massacre and is still doing all of those things, having been in one band or another continuously since 1964! Meanwhile his work has been performed by both Baroque and contemporary music ensembles, along with string quartets, chamber orchestras, and a whole range of groups and artists in the ever-expanding field of semi-popular music. Fred composes extensively for film and dance, and taught improvisation for years at Mills College in Oakland, California and the Musik Akademie in Basel, Switzerland. His life-long passion for improvising has increasingly led him to work with artists who don’t necessarily define themselves as improvisers, including Brazilian drummer Mariá Portugal, cellist Paula Sanchez, and bricoleur extraordinaire Sudhu Tewari. Fred is the subject of Nicolas Humbert and Werner Penzels’ award-winning film Step Across the Border.

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https://www.fredfrith.com/

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Edie Tsong is an interdisciplinary artist and writer. She has exhibited at the Mattress Factory, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, SITE Santa Fe, and the New Mexico Museum of Art. Her socially-engaged projects have been a part of April Meetings in Belgrade, PICA’s TBA Fest, and The PASEO. She is the recipient of the Lilla Jewel Foundation grant and the SPREAD 3.0 SITE Santa Fe grant. She participates regularly in the Southwest Improviser's Convergence and plays with Lost Time, an improvistional quartet. Tsong lives and works in northern New Mexico.

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https://www.edietsong.com/

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Tara Khozein is a soprano, songmaker, improviser, teacher, and theater artist. She has lived and worked throughout the United States and Europe. As a multidisciplinary performer, she explores classical singing, direct address, and pan-idiomatic vocal sounds in concert and theatre settings. She is also a vocal coach and music director for theater, and a stage director for musicians. She has performed as a soloist with major institutions and festivals including Oper Köln, The Bregenz Festival, The Cologne Philharmonie, Roulette Intermedium, The Watermill Center, MusikTheaterTage Wien, and the Budapest Music Center. Her current collaborations include projects with painter Zahra Marwan, filmmaker Godfrey Reggio, composer/improviser Nate Wooley, fine artist Brian Belott, flute player Jesse Tatum, pianist/composer Gabriel Zucker, violinist Alexander Balenescu, violist Kimia Hesabi, and the members of her improvisation quintet Kat & the Devil. She is based in Brooklyn, NY and Budapest, HU.

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https://www.tarakhozein.com/

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David Forlano is a multi-disciplinary performance and visual artist. His commissioned sound design supported dance a theater throughout the 90’s in Philadelphia.  He was often found teaming with percussionist Toshi Makihara on many performances as well as their own collaborations in free improvisation.  After relocating to Santa Fe in 2005 he took a 10 year break from all performance and sound work. He currently holds regular sessions in his studio with local musicians and performs in a variety of ensembles.  David is one of the cofounders of sandboxmusic.org , a monthly series presenting new creative music to the Santa Fe area. The series is dedicated to providing a forum for music that utilizes creative new techniques, ranging from electronic, experimental acoustic, new jazz, modern classical, and more. The series will feature local musicians as well as touring artists.