Gene Coleman is a composer, musician and director. A 2014 Guggenheim Fellow and recipient of the 2013 Berlin Prize for Music, he has created over 70 works for various instrumentation and media. Innovative use of sound, image, space and time allows Coleman to create work that expands our understanding of the world. Since 2001 his work has focused on the global transformation of culture and music’s relationship with other media, such as architecture, video and dance. He studied painting, music and film making at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where his principle teachers included legendary experimental film artists Stan Brakhage and Ernie Gehr, as well as Robert Snyder (music) and Barbara Rossi (painting).

As a musician, Raed Yassin has been a key member in the Lebanese underground music scene for many years. One of the organisers of the Irtijal Festival of Experimental Music from its early beginnings, he founded his concept music label Annihaya in 2009. He is a member of several bands and groups, including “A” Trio, PRAED among others. As a double bassist, he developed a personal and independent extended technique, by employing different preparations and objects on his instrument. His interest here relies heavily on textures, energies and vibrations, the density of volume and sound, rather than conventional melodic structures.
Also an electronic musician and experimental turntablist, his approach to vinyl ranges from deconstructing Arab pop music, to reexamining the traditional music archives of countries from the global south.
With his duo band PRAED (along with Paed Conca), he acts as the lead singer and synth player, merging free jazz with psychedelic rock and Egyptian Shaabi music.