Khabat Abas

Khabat Abas is a cellist, composer, and interdisciplinary artist from Kurdistan working at the intersection of free improvisation, sound art, and performance. Her practice explores time, space, and memory through an expanded sonic language drawing on everyday sounds, noise, and the physicality of listening.

Mike Adcock

Photo by Seán Kelly

Mike Adcock’s music embraces both composition and improvisation. He has made numerous solo, duet and band recordings including three with Accordions Go Crazy, ‘Lost for words’, ‘Moment of discovery’, ‘Sleep it off’ (with Clive Bell), ‘In the case of darkness’, ‘Reduced’ (with Sylvia Hallett), ‘Accord’, ‘Wanderlust’ and ‘Risky furniture’ (with Paul Jolly).

Faradena Afifi

Photo by Seán Kelly

Faradena Afifi: Founder of The Noisy Women Present, and The Noisy People’s Improvising Orchestra, Fara is also an Initiator, Connector and Performer. Faradena is a person with neurodiversity who has mixed Afghan/British heritage. She is a T’ai Chi Chuan practitioner/instructor, folk singer and improvising community musician who plays bowed string instruments, piano and percussion. She also specialises in healing music and T’ai Chi-based exercises for people with learning differences and brain injuries/conditions.

Alati

Alati is a trio led by Norwich-based trumpeter Chris Dowding, and featuring the wonderful vocals of Brigitte Beraha and the versatile piano playing of Dave O’Brien. They have performed around the UK and released their debut album, ‘Ascending the Morning’ on the Luton-based 33Jazz label.

Arc

The improvising electro-acoustic string trio Arc was formed in 1988 has performed since then with the same line up and has released three albums. Featuring Gus Garside, Sylvia Hallett and Danny Kingshill.

The group’s music has been described as ‘dramatic’, ‘sinister’, ‘witty’ and even likened to ‘a satanic horror movie score’ (though the person who described us thus also said “it was the best thing I’ve ever seen at Sonic Imperfections”).

Sam Bailey

Sam Bailey is a musician, organiser and teacher who brings people together through culture and makes exciting things happen. His expertise covers classical piano, jazz improvisation and free improvisation with a focus on collaborative performances ranging from chamber music and bands to work with dancers, poets, filmmakers, photographers and chefs. Current/recent projects include managing and performing in an award-winning series of adventurous music and combined arts events called Free Range and the year-long site-specific performance project Piano in the Woods.

BARK!

BARK! comprises Rex Caswell on guitar, Phillip Marks on percussion and Paul Obermayer on sampler.

Steve Beresford

Photo by Seán Kelly

Steve Beresford is a British musician who graduated from the University of York.

He has played a variety of instruments, including piano, electronics, trumpet, euphonium, bass guitar and a wide variety of toy instruments, such as the toy piano.

John Bisset

Photo by Seán Kelly

John Bisset is a Guitarist, vocalist, improviser and composer, organiser of structures for improvising within (Relay), and film maker.

Adam Bohman

Photo by Seán Kelly

Adam Bohman has been operating on the outer fringes of underground music for decades.

Working with home-built instruments, found objects, tape cut-ups, collages, ink drawings and graphic scores. Favouring acoustic sounds over electronics, he explores the minute tendrils of sounds coaxed from any number of non-musical instruments and objects.