A special evening of improvised music at Ravintola Sophie! Two highly respected international guests from Germany and UK/Sweden, cellist Corinna Eikmeier and clarinetist Paul Pignon, will present their collaborative projects with pianist Libero Mureddu and guitarist Jukka Kääriäinen.

BIOS

Prof. Dr. Corinna Eikmeier studied cello and improvisation and is a Feldenkrais teacher. She completed her doctorate in Vienna on the subject of “Movement Quality and Musical Practice. On the Relationship between the Feldenkrais Method and Musical Improvisation”. She has been teaching improvisation at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media since 2007. From 2017 to 2018 she was a visiting professor of music education at the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus Senftenberg. Since 2020 she has been a professor of instrumental and vocal pedagogy at the Lübeck Academy of Music. She specialises in improvisation and currently plays in permanent ensembles including Cellophan and the First Improvising String Orchestra, and she frequently participates in interdisciplinary improvisation projects. One of her current research focuses is improvisation pedagogy.

Born and grew up in the UK, Paul Pignon began playing jazz at 15. Studied physics at Oxford. While there made first forays into non-idiomatic improvisation (1961). Abandoned Ph.D research at Oxford in favour of music. Moved to Yugoslavia. Cofounder of the Radio Belgrade Electronic Studio. 14 years working with the Synthi 100 there, originally custom built for the Studio. Active as composer of chamber, vocal, electronic and improvised music, leading the group Interaction. In 1986 moved to Sweden, composing and developing computer music software at EMS. Member of FST and Fylkingen (board member). Producer at Fylkingen 1988-1992. Active as composer of electronic and instrumental works, and real-time composer on single reeds, didgeridoo, recorders, WX5, voice, laptop; currently with BOP, SoundQuartet, BONON, 2+ (with Liisa Pentti), The Great Learning Orchestra, π with Virpi Pakhinen and Amit Sen, and many ad hoc ensembles in Sweden and around the world. Currently chairperson of SEAMS, board member Fylkingen. member of FST, STIM, ISCM, VEMS, FRIM, SOF Initiator of The Pignon Agenda.

Jukka Kääriäinen, born in 1987, is a Helsinki-based musician focused on improvised, experimental, and contemporary music. He has performed on stage with many leading improvisers, including Teppo Hauta-Aho, Harri Sjöström, Camila Nebbia, Rieko Okuda, Beat Keller, Chris Corsano, Phil Wachsmann, and Kalle Kalima. He has also premiered works by composers such as Riikka Talvitie, Sebastian Hilli, Sami Klemola, Heinz-Juhani Hofmann, and Tytti Arola.

Libero Mureddu is an Italian and Finnish pianist, improviser, and composer based in Helsinki. With thirty years of experience across the European music scene, his artistic practice explores the intersection of free improvisation, algorithmic processes, and music technology. Currently, he leads the murmur trio with Andrea Grossi and Cristiano Calcagnile, and performs with the quartet Mother’s Delight, with Jukka Kääriäinen, Harri Sjöström, and Heikki Nikula. He also maintains regular duo collaborations with artists such as Charlotte Hug and Corinna Eikmeier. Alongside performing, Mureddu teaches contemporary free and electroacoustic improvisation and is a doctoral researcher at the Sibelius Academy.