Harmen Fraanje is a pianist, composer and educator from the Netherlands. He leads and co-leads several projects like his solo project, trio Reijseger Fraanje Sylla (also known for their collaboration with filmmaker Werner Herzog), a duo with Norwegian trumpet player Arve Henriksen, a quartet with Sanem Kalfa, Clemens van der Feen and Martijn Vink, a trio with Finnish musicians Aino Peltomaa and Mikko Perkola, and a quartet with Magic Malik, Brice Soniano and Toma Gouband. These groups mostly perform original works with a lot of space for improvisation. Harmen is also very active as a sideman in various projects, like the Mats Eilertsen Trio, Eric Vloeimans’ Fugimundi trio with Anton Goudsmit, and Michael Moore’s Fragile Quartet. With these projects he frequently performs at festivals and concert venues worldwide. Recordings of the projects he’s involved in have been released by renowned record labels like ECM, Winter & Winter, Outhere Music, Hubro Music, Challenge Jazz… Harmen is chairman of the Jazz Piano Faculty at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam / University of the Arts Amsterdam. He is also frequently invited to give workshops and masterclasses at other European conservatories.