Improvisation has been at the heart of my artistic life for more than four decades. For me, it is much more than a musical language. It is a way of listening, communicating, and being open to the unexpected — a way of discovering what can happen when musicians trust one another and allow music to develop in the moment. Every performance is a unique encounter, shaped by openness, intuition, trust, and shared imagination.
Throughout my career, I have been drawn to the meeting point between composition and improvisation, and to creating musical situations in which different voices, experiences, and artistic perspectives can meet. Whether performing as a soloist, in small ensembles, large-scale formations, or interdisciplinary projects, I am guided by curiosity, dialogue, and a willingness to take artistic risks. For me, the most exciting moments often emerge when there is no predetermined answer and the musicians have to find a way forward together.
Creating spaces for artistic exchange has therefore become an essential part of my work. Over the years, I have founded ensembles, initiated collaborations, curated festivals, and brought together musicians from different backgrounds and generations. These encounters continue to shape my understanding of improvisation as a form of communication — one that can connect people, ideas, and cultures beyond established boundaries.
My artistic development was shaped by workshops with John Cage, Bill Dixon, Vinko Globokar, George Lewis, George Russell, and Evan Parker, as well as by studying saxophone with Leo Wright, Friedhelm Schönfeld, and Steve Lacy.
Returning to Europe in 1978, I began working as a freelance musician, improviser, composer, and artistic initiator, first in Vienna and, from 1985 onwards, in Berlin. Over the decades, my work has developed across a wide range of fields, including performance, composition, ensemble building, festival curation, teaching, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
A defining chapter of my musical life was my collaboration with Cecil Taylor, which lasted from 1990 to 2016. During these years, we performed extensively around the world. The experience of working within his extraordinary musical universe had a profound influence on my understanding of listening, freedom, structure, and the possibilities of collective improvisation. Eight live recordings document aspects of this long-standing musical relationship.
As an artistic initiator, I have founded or co-founded numerous ensembles and long-term projects, including Quintet Moderne, Sestetto Internazionale, M0VE, ECIO (European Composers Improvisers Orchestra Pool), Up And Out, City Of Pyramids, The Player Is, Motström, Flight Mode, and Mothers Delight. Each project has developed its own identity and offered a different context for exploring ensemble interaction, spontaneous creation, and the relationship between composition and improvisation.
Since 2016, I have been the founder and Artistic Director of the SoundScapes Festival, an international platform dedicated to contemporary improvised music. The festival brings together established and emerging artists from Europe and beyond, creating opportunities for encounters between different generations, musical languages, and artistic perspectives.
Alongside this work, I have taught saxophone since 1980, composed music for film, and maintained a parallel practice as a photographer. These different forms of artistic expression have always been connected for me by a common interest in observation, interaction, and the search for new ways of seeing and listening.
Today, I continue to perform, develop new ensembles and interdisciplinary projects, and create spaces for artistic exchange. My work remains rooted in the same curiosity that has guided me from the beginning: a desire to listen closely, to remain open to the unexpected, and to discover what becomes possible when people come together and create something that could not have existed without them.
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Throughout my career, I have been drawn to the meeting point between composition and improvisation, and to creating musical situations in which different voices, experiences, and artistic perspectives can meet. Whether performing as a soloist, in small ensembles, large-scale formations, or interdisciplinary projects, I am guided by curiosity, dialogue, and a willingness to take artistic risks. For me, the most exciting moments often emerge when there is no predetermined answer and the musicians have to find a way forward together.
Creating spaces for artistic exchange has therefore become an essential part of my work. Over the years, I have founded ensembles, initiated collaborations, curated festivals, and brought together musicians from different backgrounds and generations. These encounters continue to shape my understanding of improvisation as a form of communication — one that can connect people, ideas, and cultures beyond established boundaries.
My artistic development was shaped by workshops with John Cage, Bill Dixon, Vinko Globokar, George Lewis, George Russell, and Evan Parker, as well as by studying saxophone with Leo Wright, Friedhelm Schönfeld, and Steve Lacy.
Returning to Europe in 1978, I began working as a freelance musician, improviser, composer, and artistic initiator, first in Vienna and, from 1985 onwards, in Berlin. Over the decades, my work has developed across a wide range of fields, including performance, composition, ensemble building, festival curation, teaching, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
A defining chapter of my musical life was my collaboration with Cecil Taylor, which lasted from 1990 to 2016. During these years, we performed extensively around the world. The experience of working within his extraordinary musical universe had a profound influence on my understanding of listening, freedom, structure, and the possibilities of collective improvisation. Eight live recordings document aspects of this long-standing musical relationship.
As an artistic initiator, I have founded or co-founded numerous ensembles and long-term projects, including Quintet Moderne, Sestetto Internazionale, M0VE, ECIO (European Composers Improvisers Orchestra Pool), Up And Out, City Of Pyramids, The Player Is, Motström, Flight Mode, and Mothers Delight. Each project has developed its own identity and offered a different context for exploring ensemble interaction, spontaneous creation, and the relationship between composition and improvisation.
Since 2016, I have been the founder and Artistic Director of the SoundScapes Festival, an international platform dedicated to contemporary improvised music. The festival brings together established and emerging artists from Europe and beyond, creating opportunities for encounters between different generations, musical languages, and artistic perspectives.
Alongside this work, I have taught saxophone since 1980, composed music for film, and maintained a parallel practice as a photographer. These different forms of artistic expression have always been connected for me by a common interest in observation, interaction, and the search for new ways of seeing and listening.
Today, I continue to perform, develop new ensembles and interdisciplinary projects, and create spaces for artistic exchange. My work remains rooted in the same curiosity that has guided me from the beginning: a desire to listen closely, to remain open to the unexpected, and to discover what becomes possible when people come together and create something that could not have existed without them.
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