Kim Myhr, a 28-year old guitarist and composer, is a Norwegian resident who studied at Berklee College of Music from 2003 to 2005. He has been performing new improvised and contemporary music all over the world, including in Canada, Australia, Japan and Japan. In 2008, he was awarded the JazZtipend, a cash prize worth approximately $30,000 at the Molde International Jazz Festival. He will be returning to the festival in July 2009 with his new piece for an ensemble that includes Ingar Zach, Jim Denley, and a group of thirteen musicians. Myhr described his new composition as having “fragments, figures, and ideas that he would like to see the orchestra work with”, and offering the possibility for “spontaneous interaction” and “collective solutions.” Jim Denley is known for being one of Australia’s most renowned improvisers and improvisers. Born in Bulli, New South Wales in 1957, he was a musician and improviser of new music. At age five, he began to play violin. He then started playing piano and by age eleven, he was playing flute. After studying the instrument at the NSW Conservatorium he went on to play jazz and commercial music for a living. In the late 1970s, he was already composing music. A decade later, he started to work in an improvisational style and to incorporate his voice into his instrumental works. In the 1980s, he also studied shakuhachi flute music from Japan. This style is very focused on the present and the immediate. Denley has performed extensively in Europe and Great Britain, although he is most often a collaborative musician. However, he has also been a soloist throughout the course of his career. Ingar Zach, a Norwegian percussionist, was born in Oslo in 1971. He has been a part of over fifty CD-releases. Ingar Zach is the leader and founder of “Dans les Arbres”, a renowned quartet. WIRE magazine wrote that their recent ECM-release “Dans les arbres” was “one of the best ECM Improv releases – indeed releases from any label – in recent years.” Zach also studied musicology at the University of Oslo and spent a residency at Stockholm’s Royal Music Academy, Sweden where he discovered his passion for improvisation. He was awarded the master of chamber music from Oslo’s Music Academy in 2003. This was the first master’s award for all-improvised repertoires in Norway. Zach is well-known for his extensive percussion repertoire and innovative instrumentation. He has performed at major festivals in Europe, America, and Canada.
