Amsterdam is a fertile place for contemporary music, and for our instruments in particular. We are able to play music and develop projects here that would likely be impossible elsewhere. In 1999 we first met and played together in larger ensemble projects while studying in Amsterdam. Our first full-length concert as a duo was in May 2003, then we were invited to perform in the Rumor Festival in Utrecht, Holland, splitting the bill with pianist Tomoko Mukaiyama, and sharing the stage with bands such as Melt Banana, Acid Mother Temple, and Ruins. In December 2003 we played six concerts together in Japan including engagements at the club Super Deluxe, the Japan National Saxophone Association Congress, and the Yokohama Film Festival. In 2005 the Dutch Consulate sponsored our performances in Boston, USA, at Harvard University, Northeastern University, UMass Dartmouth, and the NAO Performance Gallery. In 2007 we have performed in Rome at the American Academy, featuring works by current and former Academy composers and Italian composers. We also have a new improvisation based composition, "Urban Doldrums" a commission by Anne LaBerge, which is for bass clarinet, also sax and electronics; we have performed it in the kitchen at Cesta (the Czech Republic, see above) and in a set replicating an office at Zaal 100 in Amsterdam. We have also collaborated with video artist Mark Melvin and composer Adam Melvin in the creation of "Byproduct", a new piece in an installation setting (shown above).

Yokahama film festival, 2003

Our common drive braves the least-safe territories of contemporary, experimental music, and improvisation. We like performing challenging extended techniques, extreme technical feats, creative musical concepts, and venturing into cross-cultural sonic mixes of tradition and modernity. Duo X is a sort of minature East-West ensemble. We continue to develop new repertoire, and composers writing for us have received support from the Dutch Fonds voor de Scheppende Toonkunst (Funds for the creation of music).