Fx Kollektiv is an ensemble based in Basel that focuses on new music. Its musical styles encompass contemporary classical music, improvisation, and experimental music that makes use of electronics and media. Fx Kollektiv explores the essence of sound and, through collaborations with composers and artists, seeks to elaborate its own ensemble language. Fx breaks away from the traditional saxophone–piano duo formation and embraces new sonic horizons. For this purpose, they use electronic or prepared instruments, work with live electronics, or explore rarely used instruments such as the tubax or various synthesizers.
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Fx is rooted in a keyboard/piano and saxophone duo but lives up to the name "Kollektiv" by regularly engaging in projects with renowned international artists — whether instrumentalists, dancers, or visual artists.
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The musicians of this group have long and distinguished stage careers: they have performed at renowned new music festivals and premiered works by young and established composers such as Nadir Vassena, Andreas Frank, Joseph Michaels, Leonardo Idrobo, Ezko Kikoutchi, Nuño Fernández, Jannik Giger, Vi Weinmann, and Pablo Santiago Chin. They have recently toured the United States and offered workshops for composers at the Manhattan School of Music and the Longy School of Music in Boston.
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They have also participated in numerous festivals such as Neue Musik Rümlingen and the International Contemporary Festival of Salamanca. Recently, they recorded their first CD with the Adora New Music label, featuring works by Eric Wubbels, Tobias Krebs, and their own composition. Upcoming projects include tours in China and Chile scheduled for 2026 and 2027.
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Alejandro Oliván (1992) is a Spanish saxophonist specialized mainly in contemporary and classical music. He earned his Bachelor’s degree at the University of Salamanca, Spain. He then completed a Master’s Degree in Performance and a Master’s Degree in Pedagogy at the Hochschule für Musik Basel with Professor Marcus Weiss. He has been awarded in more than 10 occasions in national and international music competitions. Alejandro has collaborated with some of the most renowned conductors of today such as Simon Rattle,Peter Eötvös, Emilio Pomárico or Matthias Pintscher. He has participated in important festivals such as the “Lucerne Festival”, the “Darmstadt Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik “, the “Zeit Räume Basel”, the “Tage für Neue Musik Weimar”, the “Outear Series” in Chicago, the “Null Point Series” in Buffalo (USA) or the “No hay banda series” in Montreal.
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Currently he works as an assistant professor of saxophone at the Hochschule für Musik in Basel.
@Reza Kaviani
Carlos Gil-Gonzalo studied in his hometown of Madrid in the piano class of Professor Dimitri Bashkirov and Professor Claudio Martinez Mehner at the Queen Sofia School of Music. In 2014, he completed his Bachelor of Music there and later earned his Master of Arts in Music Pedagogy at the Hochschule für Musik in Basel, where he studied with Claudio Martinez Mehner.
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As a soloist, Carlos has performed at Festivals and concerts throughout Switzerland, Spain, France, Italy and Germany.He has also worked as accompanist with several choirs including the Knabenkantorei Basel and has played with the Basel Sinfonietta on numerous occasions.
Carlos is also co-founder of his piano duo - Kados Duo - and is very committed with the visual content of Fx Kollektiv as he records and does the post production part of the videos. In addition to his soloistic and pedagogical pursuits, he recorded a CD of chamber music works by Swiss composers together with Peter-Lukas Graf.
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He is part of the Musikschule Konservatorium Zürich faculty since 2020.
@Reza Kaviani
