GUO GAN is a Grand Master of the Erhu, the traditionalchinese violon . Guo Gan was born in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, China and he learned the Erhu in Shen Yang Conservatory of Music. In 2000, he went to study in Paris, after his graduation. He has toured over 100 countries and recorded more than 90 CDs with many world-renowned orchestras in major concert halls, including the Carnegie Hall in New York and the Madeleine Cathedral in Paris with successful solo concerts on a regular basis. Guo Gan performs with world-renowned musicians such as Lang Lang, Didier Lockwood, Hans Zimmer, Garel
Yared, Yvan Cassr, Jean Francois Zygel, Nguyen Le, Sami Yusuf, Stromae, Matthieu Chedid. The New York Times hailed him as " the Guo Gan of the exceptional
and magnificent erhu" and he has received a lot of media coverage worldwide for his performances and recordings. Guo Gan was awarded the-"Chevalier
de l'Ordre des Arts et Des Lettres" in 2016 by the French Government and
French Ministry of Culture, the firstChinese national to receive the award and the first award for a performer of
the Erhu instrument.

ANNA GRICHTING SOLDER was born in Switzerland and raised in England and Ireland. She followed classical musical training and workshops in jazz and blues and ethnic music. She performed with her rhythm'n'blues band “Mad Hatters” from 1985-1990 and was a member of the music-hall “Batignolles” interpreting songs by Mistinguette. She formed “Songs Trio” with pianist Michel Bastet and trombonist Jean-Jacques Pedretti and performed with pianist and composer Ariane Besson around Dorothy Parker’s poems. She also played with Sylvie Canet, Julian Pinol, Martin Wizard, Claude Tabarini, Jean-Jacque Avenel, John Sass. She created “Border Meetings” around her research on boundaries with Martin Schütz, Lucas Niggli and Jean-Jacques Pedretti. With Pedretti, Robert Morgenthaler, Sher Miandad Khan and Warisali Baloo Khan she produced “Sufi Moon”, mixing alphorns and Qawwali and performing in Switzerland and Pakistan. Anna composed for a spatial sound system - Mouthpiece I, II, III and IV, inspired by her work on borders. She created Desert Bridges with her late husband Cheo Jeffery Allen Solder, performing with Gnawa musicians in Morocco, Egyptian bedouin musicians, and with an ensemble at Qatar National Theater for the inauguration of the Swiss Embassy in Qatar. Desert Bridges has performed in Bahrain and upcoming concerts are planned in Oman.

Find out more about Anna Grichting and her music projects at the following link.

MICHEL BASTET was born in Bordeaux, France, and has been playing on the Swiss Jazz scene for many years, as well as performing internationally with Piano Seven and other groups in Europe, USA, Brasil, the Middle East, Asia and Albania.. He has played contemporary jazz with artists and ensembles such as Charlie Rouse, Paolo Bellinati, Glenn Ferris, Carlos Ward, Matthieu Michel, la Compagnie d'Eustache de Jean-François Bovard, Robin Eubanks, the Quintette Popolien, and many other musicians and vocalists, in formations from piano solo to duos, trios, quartets and large ensembles. Currently he plays with the following groups as well as performing in solo: Piano Seven: We Jazz, Gentel Marvel, Sophie Ding Trio Quintet, Arrêt sur image Quartet, and in the trio Anna Jazz & Roses.Michel teaches piano the l'Ecole Conservatoire Populaire-AMR as well as leadingWorkshops improvisation and in particular a workshop pianists and one for latin jazz. His recordings include: a number of CD recordings with Piano Seven; "Nostalgia N' Barbès" Michel Bastet, Frédéric Folmer; Le Quintette Popolien; Mathieu Michel Quintet amongst others.

Find out more about Michel Bastet at the following link.

FREDERIC FOLMER plays acoustic bass and was trained at the American School of Paris. He has written over 150 musical works over his thirty years musical career and also a gifted improviser. He has performed all over the globe with musicians from different cultures and styles, including a tour of China with Guo Gan Jazz Band in 2017 several tours with Trio Moncef Genoud to the USA, Africa, Asia, Japan and Korea, and the Jazz Festival Montreux, Victoria Hall Geneva, Moods Zürich, North Sea Jazz festival. He played with Youssou NDour at the Festival of Cully and accompanied Dee Dee Bridgewater. With the Big band of the AMR, concerts in Cologne, Amsterdam (Bimhuis) and Sevilla. He has participated in theatre and shows including Misa Speritista » by Robert Clerc and "Des Gens" with Thierry Hochstatter and DanielVuillamoz; Rudra/Béjart Docks Lausanne with the “CityPercussion”. He has composed music for the film Jeanne d’Arc by Nicola Orioli and K.TDreyer.

He has recorded many CDs and you can find out more about Frederic Folmer on Linkedin, soundcloud and youtube.

THIERRY HOCHSTAETTER was born in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1962. He studied at the Conservatory of Music, Geneva and the Swiss Jazz School, Bern as well as the Musicians Institute, Los Angeles. While being a busy and prominent stage and studio Artist, Thierry does not neglect an intense private and academic teaching schedule, organising workshops and teaching percussion. He also tutors dance students on percussion and rhythms in contemporary Ballet Workshops. His artistic collaborations include artists such as: Moncef Genoud, Bob Berg, Tribe Reunion and Ipso Facto for the jazz scene, and Youssou N’Dour, Zizi Jeanmaire or Catherine Ribeiro as a backing drummer. He is also performs rock gigs with bands like Zero Heroes and Quai des Brumes. The main part of his composers work is in the world dance and theatre, with such choreographers as Maurice Béjart, Roland Petit amongst others. Since 1995 he is the artistic director of the Citypercussion Multi-art Company in Geneva.