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Robert Armus, tenor saxophone/composer: Born in Liverpool, England 1966, Armus grew up and studied music in Vancouver, Canada, and has been performing jazz and original  music for more than 20 years in North and South America, Europe and Israel. Since settling in Amsterdam in 1992, Armus
has collaborated with many great European musicians such as: Han Bennink, Tristan
Honsinger, Wolter Wierbos and Curtis Clark. In June 2005 Armus was a soloist for
the premier of the Orchestral piece "Requium for my Friend" by the
composer Zbigniew Preisner for the film maker Krzysztov Kieslowski.
As a composer he has written
for many dance pieces and for animation and documentary films.
Current projects as leader: Aros ,
RAFP (duo with Fabrizio
Puglisi-piano), Robert Armus Quartet (Fabrizio Puglisi-piano, Ernst Glerum-bass,
Clarence Becton-drums), The Old and New
Quartet.
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Marion von Tilzer, piano:
The Austrian pianist/composer Marion
von Tilzer studied classical piano at the Sweelinck Conservatory, Amsterdam. She
has been performing as a soloist and a chamber musician in Spain, Austria,
Germany and the Netherlands.
Besides performing in regular concert
settings, Marion has also played in several music-theatre productions. She
premiered various works by composers in the Dutch new music scene and was
broadcasted by several Dutch radio stations.
Marion was one of the three performers
of the piece "Spi" by Y. Kyriakides, which won the first prize in the
Gaudeamus New Music Week 2000. Since than they have been touring with this
programme in and outside of the Netherlands.
She's the co-leader of Aros. Besides
composing for different ensembles, she's also been asked to write for film.
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Anne Wood, violin: Anne Wood's dynamic violin playing is unique, spanning an unusually broad range of musical style and techniques through her work in classical, jazz and rock music. Trained at the International Menuhin Violin Academy (Switzerland) and the Royal Academy of Music (London), she also spent time in Pakistan studying violin in the North Indian tradition. 
As a creative musician she has composed
and performed music for productions in the theatre, television and film,
including work with the Royal Shakespeare, Royal National, Communicado,
Edinburgh Lyceum, and Traverse Theatre Companies plus TV and radio productions
for the BBC.
Anne's virtuosic playing combined with a
great natural charisma and dynamism on stage have made her a sought after
musician with a wide range of musical outfits:- performing and recording credits
include the Kreisler String Orchestra, the Bloomfield String Quartet and Sextet,
the ICMC Quartet (for Violin, Tape & Digital Delay), the Jools Holland Big
Band, the Cauld Blast Orchestra, Deacon Blue, Heidi Berry, The Raincoats, the
Electra Strings, Carol Laula, Dominic Miller, Mathilda May, Robyn Hitchcock,
Morrissey and Savourna Stevenson.
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John Korsrud, trumpet:
John Korsrud has composed for film,
dance, theatre and even for Mario Bros. video games. In 1990 he formed the
17-piece new music/ jazz ensemble, The Hard Rubber Orchestra soon after graduating with a degree in
music from the University of British
 Columbia. Recent commissions
include The Vancouver Symphony, The CBC Radio Orchestra, Holland's Ensemble LOOS,
Ensemble Ereprijs and Combustion Chamber which
premiered on VPRO Television, The Netherlands in April, 1997.
As a trumpet player, John has performed
with artists such as George Lewis, Han Bennink, Butch Morris, Barry Guy, Rene
Lussier, Myra Melford, Kenny Wheeler, The Duke Ellington Orchestra, Vancouver's
New Orchestra Workshop, and the Vancouver Ensemble of Jazz Improvisation (VEJI).
From 1995 to 1997 John did post-graduate composition studies with Louis
Andriessen at The Royal Conservatory of The Netherlands.
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Sven Schuster, double bass:
Sven Schuster (1965, Germany) studied
double bass with Wayne Darling at the University in Graz, Austria. In 1988
Schuster moved to Holland and completed his formal education with a degree from
the conservatory in Hilversum in 1991. In the same year he was awarded "
the best soloist" by the Middlesee Jazztreffen, Leeuwarden (Holland). Sven
is a highly in demand bass player in the Dutch jazz scene. He has been
performing and recording CDs with Dirk Balthaus, Steve Altenberg, Mike del
Ferro, Lydia van Dam, John Engels, Han Bennink, Ricky Margitza, Dale Barlow and
Jim Hall, Astrid Seriese and the trio "Barlow, De Boo, Schuster",
Harry Sokal, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Alan Praskin, Bill Elgart, Roberto di Gioia,
Wolfgang Haffner and Mel Lewis as well as touring throughout Europe, Africa,
Jamaica and the U.S.A. In 1999 the Sven Schuster Quartet released their first CD
" Three is a crowd ".
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Alan Purves, percussion: Alan Purves (1952) , also named Gunga, is a Scottish composer and percussionist, a musical omnivore who feels comfortable with almost any style. For about thirty years he's played rock 'n roll, reggae, jazz and improvised music. He doesn't study licks or styles, but his musical activities show his affinity for ethnic rhythms: a long stint with South African Sax player Sean Bergin, with  Portuguese singer Fernando
Lameirinhas, with the American sax player John Zorn with his Massada and Cobra
projects and with trumpet player Rajesh Metha, whose rhythms have an Indian
touch. In Sardinia he recorded with local vocal quartets and cellist Ernst
Reijseger (a longtime booster and duopartner). He jammed with a Transylvanian
Gypsy band at the Bimhuis, accompanied Jodi Gilbert on songs inspired by a
California Indian and played with Argentinian bandoneon player Gustavo Toker. He
often performs with Ernst Reijseger and trombone player Wolter Wierbos. His
arsenal reaches back into everybody's past: children's squeeze toys and whirly
tubes, whistles, small drums from everywhere, Chinese-opera cymbals, pairs of
"bones" he clacks in either hand like a proper Scot.
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