Cathy Heyden

Cathy Heyden is a French self-taught saxophonist, free improviser, and music educator. Before joining European avant-garde scene, Heyden had been professionally involved in theatrical and dance performance, carrying academic studies on these topics. Currently based in Paris, Cathy Heyden teaches at CFMI d'Orsay, Philharmonie de Paris and music school, and has a forthcoming solo debut album, Badlands, co-released by Universinternational / 213 Records in 2017. In 1998, she joined Pagaille improvisation orchestra in Nancy, created by Louis-Michel Marion and René Le Borgne, and played with Jean-Marc Montera, Sophie Agnel, Laurent Dailleau, Dominique Clément (3) and Françoise Toullec in this ensemble. Cathy Heyden worked with improvisers, dancers, visual artists and actors in Nancy and Toulouse (Michel Doneda, Lê Quan Ninh, Martine Altenburger, Fabrice Charles, Ly Thanh Tiên, David Chiesa), and explored Parisian scene in collaboration with Hervé Zénouda, Dante Feijoo, Jean-Luc Degioanni, Sébastien Branche, Ensemble Intercontemporain and other notable performers. Cathy's network of connections soon expanded across Europe, through collective work with Italian musicians Jacopo Andreini and Fabio Bello, as well as Liba Villavecchia and Artur Vidal from Spain, and reaching all the way to Japan (Kumi Iwase, Trami Nguyen, duo with Tamio Shiraishi). She joined Urban Sax on one of the world tours. Throughout her career, Heyden organized numerous ensembles, including duos A Rose is a Rose with Didier Lasserre and Musique pour pupitres & ustensiles with Olivier Bartissol, GHK Trio with Béatrice Godeau (cello) and Judith Kan (voice), and spoken word/music trio As I Die (Erell Latimier – voice, texts; Olivier Brisson – drums). She also worked extensively with a drummer Rogier Smal, and performed with Maëlstrom – Jean-Philippe Gross' project with Arnaud Paquotte on electric bass and Michel Oury on drums. In 2006, Cathy Heyden joined electroacoustic improviser Jean-Marc Foussat and saxophonist Sylvain Guérineau in Quod – and a quartet with Jean-Luc Cappozzo on trumpet, live concert at Olympic Café. Heyden continued working with Foussat in Mezza Vocce quartet, which combined her and Jean-Marc's music with video/text projections by Adeline Hocdet and Fanny Richert, in BonPiet Beauneuille children's show, inspired by works of Jean Dubuffet. Some of her appearances include a concert at La Générale En Manufacture, Sèvres with Yves Botz's freeform noise duo Mesa Of The Lost Women and trumpeter Jac Berrocal in May 2009. The same year, at Avantgarde Festival in Schiphorst, guitarist and videographer Uwe Bastiansen invited Cathy to join him on stage with Stadtfischflex & The Flexible Orchestra, which featured Werner Diermaier (drums), Geoff Leigh (flute), Diego Vinciarelli (drums), Diego Pandiscia (bass), Max Manac'h (bass, noises and fx), and Fritz Müller (keyboards). She also worked with Bastiansen under his Stadtfisch alias, and participated in Stadtfischflex recording sessions for 3 records. With the same musicians, she is invited as a guest by Faust in France BBMIX festivals 2021 and 2012, in Brussel 2012 or at severals AvantGarde Festivals Schiphorst. Those german friendships and collaborations never ending. She played duo with dutch drummer Rogier Smal for several tours in France, Germany, Denmark where they alo played with trombone Maria Bertel and baryton sax Jos Lunds, as well as in Nederland, England with guitarist David Birchall and Scotland. In France, she played the band Dildo with bass player Jean-Pierre Barja, guitarist Thierry Müller and cellist Automne Lajeat at Instants Chavirés or La Générale en Manufacture. Playing noise music on alto or barytone sax, objects and fx, her favorite partner is guitarist Erik Minkkinen from Sister Iodine or Lille bass player and noise maker Max Manac'h for some cryptics concerts at La Générale en Manufacture, CCL Lille or in some West parisian catacombs. She plays the Traüme Süss duo with Polo, electronics (Orléans, Festival Densités), and an improvised duet Chaussons with scottish bass player Howie Reeve (tours in France, England, Scotland, Spain) and appears on his Double Rainbow record (2020). She plays several instruments, voice, words, electronics and sax in Simone Poussière trio with Delphine Dora, piano, electronics, vocal, words, and Mathias Dufil, guitare, electronics, vocal, words. She is part of the transatlantic music project Allochtone with drummer Rémi Leclerc, doublebassist Alexandre Dubuc, pianist André Pelletier, guitarist Olivier d'Amours and accordionist Robin Servant for an upcoming album. Their first album as 2014 with Rémi Leclerc, Alexandre Dubuc and voice, erhu and laptop Sylvie Chenard, on Tour de Bras records. She actually collaborates with dance compagny L'éclaboussée since 2017 for "Fanfares chorégraphiques" in Paris, with retired persons. She is a sound massager and a tibetan bowls massager as well.