ALEXANDRE CAHEN
Music between composition and improvisation, shaped by listening, movement and transformation.
Alexandre Cahen is a pianist, composer and improviser based in Strasbourg. His music moves between jazz, contemporary composition and free improvisation, exploring how written structures can remain open to collective transformation. Listening, movement and the tension between order and uncertainty lie at the centre of his work.
His music takes shape through projects of contrasting scales. The Art of Flying brings together a ten-piece ensemble around principles inspired by starling murmurations, allowing composed material and collective improvisation to continually reshape one another. The work was presented at the 2023 Schaffhauser Jazzfestival as part of its programme devoted to music and the climate crisis.
In duo with vocalist Patricija Skof, he approaches songs as open spaces for intimacy, experimentation and improvisation. Their first album is scheduled for release in 2027.
Monde(s), created with guitarist Martin Theurillat, explores a more abstract dialogue between piano, prepared piano, electric guitar and effects; an album from the project is scheduled for release in late 2026.
Alongside his own projects, Cahen performs with formations including the Hugo Diaz Quartet, the Emilio Giovanoli Quintet and Fred Frith’s International Occasional Orchestra. With the Hugo Diaz Quartet, he received first prize at Un Doua de Jazz and the audience award at the Avignon Jazz Festival. The quartet’s debut album, Confluences, was released in 2024 and received wide critical attention in the French press.
His work has been presented at festivals and venues throughout France and Europe, including Sons d’Hiver, Jazzdor, Instants Chavirés, Schaffhauser Jazzfestival, Moods, Bird’s Eye and Jamboree Jazz Club.
After initially completing a bachelor’s degree in medical studies, Cahen studied jazz in Strasbourg and at Jazzcampus Basel, where he earned master’s degrees in performance and composition. During this period, he studied with musicians including Guillermo Klein, Fred Frith, Brad Mehldau, Eric Watson, Larry Grenadier, Jorge Rossy and Caspar Johannes Walter.