© Beowulf Sheehan

»Music is limitless, and its potential for meaning is infinite. This is neither good nor bad, but simply an acknowledgement that music is one kind of expression of any given culture (with many other inputs, of which I am mostly ignorant). From that perspective, I suppose then that music is just another medium through which I try to understand another human and/or the culture that they exist(ed) in, and more deeply feel the interconnectedness of the world that we live in, that we have inherited, and that we will pass on.«

Currently the only musician ever to receive two Avery Fisher Career Grants – in 2016 as a soloist and in 2019 as a member of the JACK Quartet – cellist Jay Campbell has brought his eclectic artistic interests both as a performer and curator to the New York Philharmonic, Deutsche-Symphonie Orchester, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Ojai Festival, Lucerne Festival and many others. Deeply committed to collaborative music, Jay is a member of the JACK Quartet, as well as the Junction Triowith violinist Stefan Jackiw and composer/pianist Conrad Tao, multidisciplinary artist collective AMOC, and frequently works with composers and performers like Helmut Lachenmann, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Barbara Hannigan, John Zorn, Tyshawn Sorey, and many more from his own generation. 

© Alicja Rzepa/Sacrum Profanum
»Music helps me feel, process and regulate my emotions, giving them an outlet when I need release and bringing me calm when I need balance – it’s sort of my outsourced nervous system.«
 
Krzysztof Pietraszewski is a music journalist, editor and curator based in Kraków, Poland. Since 2016, he has served as artistic director of Sacrum Profanum, a festival dedicated to new and experimental music. He hosts Muzykoteka and the RKK Live concert rebroadcast series on Radio Kraków Kultura. He also develops listening sessions with discussions, inviting audiences to discover unfamiliar music, exchange impressions and experience listening as a shared activity. His work includes executive-producing recordings for the Sacrum Profanum Archives series. Originally from Silesia, he has made Kraków his home, sharing music through concerts, radio broadcasts, writing and, more recently, experimental DJ sets.
 
 
 
© PR

»For me, music is at its best when it appeals to both the head and the heart. I love music that plays with language and understands how words create images, while also possessing its own unique sonic quality and mood. It’s an added bonus if the music energizes me during a run, makes me dance in the kitchen, or makes me laugh. Or cry. Music can be like a chocolate-coated marshmallow treat with a surprise inside.« 

Lone Hørslev is an author of poetry, novels, and song lyrics, as well as the TV series Den gode stemning. Together with Mads Mouritz, she forms one half of the Mouritz/Hørslev Project, and she recently wrote lyrics for the musical theatre production STOLT in collaboration with Katrine Muff. The songs can be found on the album Jeg ønsker mig.

© Sam Aebi
»I think music is just the way I perceive and process the world.«
 
Raphael Loher is a pianist and composer based in Lucerne, Switzerland who combines elements of experimental electronic music, ambient, and minimalist composition. His distinct, crystalline work explores playful reduction and rhythmic abstraction, aiming to create singular resonances and aesthetic connections. His meditative style of piano playing allows shimmering rhizomatic structures to emerge, giving rise to tense narrative arcs. Loher expands his sound spectrum by preparing the piano, using effect pedals, and working with a tape recorder.
 
Loher’s new album Figuren (Präsens Editionen) is an album shaped by intuition, experimentation, and a deliberate distance from his primary instrument — the piano. Reworking intimate concert recordings made during a residency, Loher deconstructed selected melodies, tones, and resonances into new forms, transforming them further through tape manipulation. 
© PR

»For us, music is... magic? Aside from the fact that we are huge fans of silence, the closing line of one of our upcoming singles perfectly captures our relationship with music: 

'Music feels like magic to me / A superior art form in a marketplace / Trying to find an empty space'. 

That is what it can feel like as a songwriter and performing musician. We try to hold onto an almost childlike infatuation with music, yet the art form we work in – alternative-leaning pop-rock – was created and has evolved 'in a marketplace' driven by powerful economic forces. As a romantic, that can sometimes be a bit disheartening...«

Late Runner consists of Asger Tarpgaard and Tanja Forsberg Simonsen, both formerly of the bands Superheroes and Private.

© PR
© PR

It was officially confirmed only recently that Icelandic avant-garde star Björk is visiting Bielsko-Biała today. After keeping it under wraps until the last moment, the organizers of the Wędrujący Festiwal (Wandering Festival) have revealed that Björk is the artist closing out the festival's grand finale.