Over the centuries, the piano has become the ultimate keyboard instrument. Apart from playing common repertoire, pianists used to improvise, create and perform their own pieces. This tradition has mostly disappeared in the 20th century.

This CD recording is part of an academic research at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp, with the aim of reviving the tradition of combining creation and performance but with contemporary aesthetics.

Jeroen Malaise (b. 1971, Antwerp, Belgium) is a pianist-composer and teacher at the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp. He mainly focuses on contemporary music experience and has a fascination for various traditions and different forms of improvisation.

His interests span a wide spectrum of music genres, from classical to jazz and from traditional to popular music. Jeroen played various keyboard instruments from an early age including clavichord, harpsichord and piano and had many different tutors; for baroque and classical improvisation he took lessons with Ewald Demeyere, jazz piano lessons with Christoph Erbstösser.

Currently, Jeroen teaches improvisation and practical harmony to the students of the piano department at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp.

Karel Stulens (b. 1997) is a Ghent-based composer of new arts and music. His works range from orchestral and chamber works, mainly with performative and multi-media components, to interactive videos and he makes a guest performance on this recording.

All compositions by Jeroen Malaise, except 6 Digital Snippets by Karel Stulens. 6 Digital Snippets commissioned by Jeroen Malaise as a sequel to, and with audio samples of, the 6 Etudes.