Timothée Quost

The young French musician Timothée Quost first studied classical music and holds an MA in jazz, but his interest soon shifted to free improvisation and the possibilities offered by extended techniques. As an improviser, composer and trumpeter, he has collaborated with a number of ensembles and musicians, including improvising composers Alvin Curran and Fred Frith, well-established French improvisers Jean-Luc Guionnet and Michel Doneda, as well as Czech trombonists Jan Jirucha and Štěpán Janoušek. In his practice, Quost attempts to overcome both apparent and implicit boundaries between genres, such as jazz, free improvisation and composition, with his orchestral projects breaking down the barriers between the music school tradition and contemporary music. His playing and compositions are characterised by a patient exploration of timbre and an ingenious use of contact microphones that allows for an unconventional, one might say intimate, spatial positioning of the trumpet sound.