Sikora/Culpo Duo music has been described as open and responsive, with their musical lines being cohesive and together yet springing into unexpected directions, diverging and then converging, filled with surprise and humor.

In sum: free and fresh. 

The Parisian duo of saxophonist Catherine Sikora and pianist Christopher Culpo was formed in 2014, when Sikora was artist in residence at the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris. The artists began their collaboration immediately upon meeting, establishing a musical rapport that has continued to evolve in the following years.

In February 2020, the duo reconvened in Paris and spent a full week in residence at L’Atelier de la Main d’Or, dedicating whole days to recording, and ending the week with a live concert. The resulting music reflects the evolution of the duo into a distinct creative unit with an aesthetic that is unique to itself, reflective of both musicians but also standing very much apart from either of their work in other settings. The 2020 session is also a new chapter for the duo, as for the first time Catherine brought her soprano saxophone to Paris; prior to this, the duo had always been tenor sax with the piano. Christopher Culpo has a long and distinguished history of working with masters of the soprano saxophone (including the legendary Steve Lacy), and this new work is a logical next step in that creative legacy.

The Paris Sessions Volume I: Mimesis was released on Bandcamp only in April 2020, and has been praised by critics and fans alike. Together with Volume ii, the resulting double album will be released on all major distribution outlets on September 4th, 2020. Both albums feature original artwork for each track, created by the artist Anne Graaf directly in response to the music.

ABOUT CATHERINE

La saxophoniste Catherine Sikora est connue principalement pour son travail d’improvisateur libre, travaillant en solo ainsi qu’en groupe. Son grand ton expressif et l’intégration transparente de techniques étendues dans ses structures mélodiques sont uniques et profondément personnels.

Elle s’intéresse intensément à l’art de la pratique, y voyant une forme d’art créatif en soi, distinct de l’art de la performance. Elle a joué sur des scènes aux États-Unis et en Europe, ainsi qu’en Australie et au Canada.

Le premier album solo de Sikora, Jersey , un ensemble d’improvisations pour saxophone ténor, est sorti sur Relative Pitch Records en juillet 2016, et une deuxième oeuvre solo pour saxophone soprano, Warrior , est sorti en août 2019.

Ses autres enregistrements récents notables comprennent : enregistrement en duo « sans titre: après » avec le batteur de Brooklyn Brian Chase (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Drums and Drones), « Chrysalis », un duo avec Eric Mingus, « The Paris Sessions Volume i: Mimesis » et « The Spectral Life of Things » avec le pianiste parisien Christopher Culpo, le trio « Eris 136199 » avec Han-earl Park et Nick Didkovsky, et « The Mind’s Mural » avec Enrique Haneine et son quatuor. D’autres sorties d’albums avec Eris 136199, Christopher Culpo, Paul G Smyth ainsi que solo (Warrior ii) arriveront plus tard en 2020.

Sikora est active en tant qu’éducatrice, travaillant avec les étudiants sur des concepts avancés d’improvisation et des stratégies de créativité, ainsi que sur la lutte contre l’anxiété de performance et d’autres inhibitions musicales.

“Catherine Sikora is a virtuosic firebrand on tenor and soprano saxophones whose star is on the rise.” – The Brooklyn Rail

ABOUT CULPO

Christopher Culpo is a performer and composer whose work lies at the confluence of contemporary classical music, jazz, and free improvisation. He has written chamber and symphonic music, vocal and opera, for the dance and the theatre, and has composed and improvised music for silent films.

His performing career has taken him on stages as diverse as the Cluny Jazz Festival (France), Blossoms Festival (Belgium), The Old Town House in Cape Town (South Africa), Musicafoscari/San Servolo Jazz Fest Venezia (Italy), the Radar Festival, Festival Eurojazz (Mexico), the Adelaide Cabaret Festival and the Sydney Opera House (Australia).

Christopher Culpo has released several albums, most recently The Spectral Life of Things (2018) and Mimesis (2020) with saxophonist Catherine Sikora.

Culpo’s composition Mundus Imaginalis for solo piano and strings was awarded second prize in the IV International Uuno Klami Composition Competition and was performed and recorded in Finland in November 2019.

“But, After Midnight, Before Dawn by Christopher Culpo was the real gem of the evening. Written for string quartet with two percussionists, it’s a strikingly vivid work that explores the elusive worlds of sleeping and dreaming, to hallucinogenic effect.” – Stephen Brookes (Washington Post)