Improvised Music:

Kriton Beyer, Libero Mureddu & Lauri Hyvärinen
and Livia Schweizer & Jukka Kääriäinen

Livia Schweizer (b.1994) is a flutist, improvisor, researcher and educator. Born and raised in Italy, she is now based in Helsinki. She is known for her interest in improvisation and non-conventional music notation as a tool of bringing together creative souls from different backgrounds and cultures.
After graduating from the conservatory of Livorno in Mauro Rossi’s class, attracted by the contemporary music scene in Finland, Livia moved to Helsinki to study at Sibelius Academy with Mikael Helasvuo. Since moving to Helsinki Livia had the possibility to take part in several contemporary music and interdisciplinary projects with the Nyky-ensemble, Korvat Auki, the UMUU-ensemble, Eloa ry, Tampering and has performed in festivals such as the Flow Festival, Helsingin Juhlaviikot, the UNM Festival, Tulkinnanvaraista, Luosto Soi, Hiljaisuus Festival, Jauna Muzika (Lituania), Soundscapesberlin (Germany), and Musica Nova.
Currently a member of the European Composer Improvisers Orchestra, she is also part of the Helsinki-based Septad Ensemble focused on the concept of composing music on the spot. In addition to that, she is a co-founder of the Earth Ears Ensemble mostly dedicated to performing new music written by lesser-known composers. More infos: www.liviaschweizer.com

Jukka Kääriäinen is a musician and sound artist based in Helsinki Finland. Jukka is specialized in the field of experimental music and arts and is an active performer in the Finnish scene of improvised and contemporary music. Jukka is a member of contemporary music ensemble Sähkökitarakvartetti. He has collaborated with musicians such as Teppo Hauta-Aho, Kalle Kalima, Harri Sjöström, Emilio Gordoa, Elena Kakaliagou, Rieko Okuda, Antti Virtaranta, Anil Eraslan, Mikko Innanen, Kriton Beyer and Roomet Jakapi and premiered pieces by composers such as Sebastian Hilli, Riikka Talvitie, Sami Klemola, Clara de Asis and Tytti Arola.

Kriton Beyer is a Greek-German musician and composer, who – as a performer and improviser – mainly works with the harmonium and the daxophone. He studied musicology in Greece where he collaborated with a variety of local music groups as well as musicians like Sakis Papadimitriou and Floros Floridis. In 2004 he moved to Berlin, where he got heavily involved in the improvised music scene of the city. Since then he has worked with many musicians like Phil Minton, Audrey Chen, Steve Noble, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Axel Dörner, Liz Kosack, Kresten Osgood, Tristan Honsinger, Tomomi Adachi, Richard Scott, Willi Kellers, Matthias Bauer, Antonis Anissegos, Olaf Rupp, Alexei Borisov, Els Vandeweyer, Harri Sjöström, Nicola Hein and Liz Allbee, dancers like Yuko Kaseki and visual artists like Akiko Nakayama. Kriton Beyer founded the “FRAGMENTATION ORCHESTRA“, is a member of the electroacoustic trio “uproot” and the ensembles “Redox Reaction” and FDBK EXPT. In his work with the harmonium, Kriton Beyer uses both the natural sound of his instrument and “traditional” playing techniques as well as preparations, objects and extended techniques, while his daxophone play is characterized by a very personal musical and sonic aesthetic, and an unconventional technique, sometimes also supported by the subtle use of electronics. As an improvising musician, he has performed throughout Europe. His compositions are usually characterized by conceptualism. Kriton Beyer has also conceived and commissioned the music software CinePrompt®, which was specially developed for the use for live musical performance and live recording to films. Kriton Beyer also curates and manages the concert series and record label “THE PROCRUSTEAN BED”, dedicated to Experimental & Improvised Music.

Libero Mureddu, born in Milan in 1975 and based in Helsinki since 2003, he has studied composition at the Conservatory “G. Verdi” of Milan and music technology at the Centre for Music and Technology, Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki. He is currently doing his artistic doctorate at the MuTri Doctoral School at the Sibelius Academy. In his research, Libero Mureddu investigates the role of embodied knowledge in a free improvisation performance, and how this knowledge can be observed, analysed, and used to develop free improvisation languages. Libero Mureddu’s doctorate is generously supported by the Kone Foundation. Since 2009 Libero Mureddu is the general manager of the NYKY Ensemble, the contemporary music ensemble of the Sibelius Academy. The NYKY Ensemble is nowadays considered as an important member of the Finnish contemporary music scene. Active as a teacher, he teaches free and electroacoustic improvisation at the Sibelius Academy. Libero Mureddu is the Sibelius Academy’s representative of the METRIC (Modernising European Higher Music Education through Improvisation) project, a cooperative forum between several European conservatoires that focuses on curriculum development and cooperation in the field of improvisation in higher music education.

Lauri Hyvärinen (b. 1986, Helsinki) uses guitar as his main sound source. His sound and music related activities are of theoretical and practical nature, of which improvisation remains as his primary medium and interest. Hyvärinen utilises the possibilities of improvisation with minimalist structures in search for shared and intensified social and spatial constructions. His discography includes several solo and collaborative releases on labels in Japan, Europe and US, including ftarri, AKTI and Dinzu Artefacts. His latest solo release Cut Contexts, a series of multilocational and processual electroacoustic compositions was released in November 2021 by Intonema. He has toured and performed extensively across Europe, Japan and the US at venues and festivals such as Wien Modern, Cafe Oto, Fort Process, Rhizome, Fylkingen, Le Non Jazz, Mengi and Musica Nova, collaborating with artists such as Seijiro Murayama, Taku Sugimoto, Angharad Davies, Clara de Asís, Daichi Yoshikawa, Jone Takamäki and Ilia Belorukov. As part of Sähkökitarakvartetti, he has premiered music from composers such as Clara de Asís, Kalle Kalima, Sami Klemola, Meriheini Luoto, Laura Naukkarinen (Lau Nau) and Riikka Talvitie.