Durrant / Gallio Duo

Formed in 2022 during Christoph Gallio’s residency in London, the Durrant/Gallio Duo brings together two veterans of the international free improvised music scene: Phil Durrant (electric mandolin, electronics) and Christoph Gallio (saxophones). Although the duo is a recent collaboration, the musicians first met in Switzerland over forty years ago and have periodically worked together in ad hoc projects since that time.

Both artists have been deeply involved in shaping the development of free improvisation through long-standing, influential projects across Europe, the UK, and beyond. As a duo, their work distils decades of shared listening, restraint, and exploratory sound practice. A debut release by the duo is forthcoming on Empty Birdcage Records.

Phil Durrant

Born near London in 1957, Phil Durrant is a multi‑instrumentalist improviser, composer, and sound artist. As a violinist, he was a key exponent of the “group voice” approach to improvisation, notably through projects such as the Butcher/Russell/Durrant trio, News From The Shed, and the Chris Burn Ensemble. In the late 1990s, his influential trio with Radu Malfatti and Thomas Lehn marked a decisive shift toward a more reductionist aesthetic.

These ensembles performed widely across Europe and Canada and released recordings on labels including Acta and Emanem. In more recent years, Durrant has focused on acoustic and electric mandolin, performing duos with guitarists Daniel Thompson and Martin Vishnick, and with saxophonist Christoph Gallio. He performs regularly in a trio with Mark Wastell and John Butcher, and maintains several ongoing collaborations with drummer Emil Karlsen, including a trio with Maggie Nicols.

As a semi‑modular synthesist, Durrant is a member of Trio Sowari with Bertrand Denzler and Burkhard Beins, a group that celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2024. He is also part of the international electronic ensemble MIMEO, alongside artists including Keith Rowe, Kaffe Matthews, Thomas Lehn, and Rafael Toral.

Christoph Gallio

Christoph Gallio is a Swiss saxophonist and composer born in 1957 and based in Baden, near Zurich. He studied classical saxophone with Iwan Roth at the Basel Music Conservatory and later worked with Steve Lacy in Paris. Gallio subsequently completed a Master of Arts in Transdisciplinarity at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK).

For over 35 years, Gallio has led the trio DAY & TAXI, currently featuring Silvan Jeger on bass and Gerry Hemingway on drums. His extensive collaborative practice includes duo work with Markus Eichenberger, Roger Turner, Phil Durrant, and Alistair Zaluda.

Holowell / Herbert / Denley Trio

The trio of Sonya Holowell, Melanie Herbert, and Jim Denley brings together three of Sydney’s most experienced and distinctive improvising musickin. This newly formed ensemble draws on deep practices in voice, strings, sound installation, and eco‑musical improvisation, creating performances grounded in listening, place, and relational sound‑making.

Sonya Holowell

Sonya Holowell is a Dharawal vocalist, composer, and writer whose expansive practice spans avant‑garde world premieres, electro‑acoustic experimentation, medieval chant, and spontaneous long‑form composition. Her work explores the plural self within networks of relation, directed toward truth and emancipation. Holowell collaborates widely as both artist and consultant and performs regularly with modular synthesist Ben Carey in their duo Sumn Conduit. She is currently a PhD candidate in Indigenous Artistic Research.

Melanie Herbert

Melanie Herbert is a composer, sound artist, and violinist whose multi‑speaker installations and compositions have been presented at MONA FOMA, Vivid Festival, ABC Radio, and Liquid Architecture. As a violinist, she has been a member of The Splinter Orchestra since 2011 and performs in smaller ensembles including Tone Bird with Romy Caen. Herbert is also an established theatre sound designer, with credits including Green Door Theatre Company, Ninefold Ensemble, Outhouse Theatre Company, and Penrith Performing & Visual Arts. She was sound designer for the Originate productions at Q Theatre in 2022 and 2023.

Jim Denley

Jim Denley was born in Bulli on Dharawal Country. His work emphasises eco‑musicality, spontaneity, site‑specific practice, and co‑creation with musickin—human and more‑than‑human. His project As Weather (Volumes 1–3, splitrec) formed part of his PhD research at the University of New South Wales. This research is forthcoming as the book Towards Ecological Musicking: ‘As Weather’ Improvisation, to be published by Bloomsbury.