Rooted in Stagecraft & Theater Design and growing up in the Y2K American noise underground, Piano Rain aka Alexandrea Echo Archuleta has always had her focus on extreme art in all forms. From her cosmiche synthesizer pieces, IDM inspired rhythmic rave explorations and Symphonic works for orchestra, they aim to convey a sense of instrumental trans communication, most commonly associated with spirit recording and analysis. With an underlying thread of unhinged tranquility, her live performances carry a quiet burning intensity. Inspired equally by classical music and experimental rave history, both become the ground which she glides through masterfully, having honed her practice for over two decades. Symphony No. 1: In Order to Shine premiered in San Francisco 2022 alongside Faten Kanaan and William Basinski. Additionally, her most recent performances have been on Flatstaff Mountain in Boulder, CO with FeelslikeFloating and in remote Yurts in the California and Washington forests. All of this furthers the sense of total independence, freedom and unbridled possibilities, while immersed in breathtaking nature and sonic architecture.

Alexa Burrell is a Bay Area multimedia artist who composes intricate sonic and video works consisting primarily of sampled and found media. Burrell’s works emphasize the textural and visceral qualities of body, voice and identity. She is the video artist for House/Full of Blackwomen, a ritual performance collective created by Amara Tabor-Smith and Ellen Sebastian-Chang. Her work has been featured at Pro Arts Gallery, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, SomArts and Eastside Arts Alliance.

As a seasoned, multidisciplinary creative, Alexa combines her fine arts sensibility and mad design skills with a drive to make positive change happen. Visual storytelling through film, photography and animation come naturally to her. She also creates and produces music in her solo project LEXAGON. Her music brings an afro-futurist sonic mirage of sound- weaving together loops of soulful vocals, clarinet and theremin. Inspired by female jazz vocalists and melancholy love songs, her performances incorporate femme ballads with ritualized moments of improvisation and experimental noise. She’s interested in how music activates memory, particularly ancestral trauma and epi-genetics. Music is her vehicle for time-traveling and intergenerational healing.

Zainab Lascandri (Signup) and Michal Holy (Michal Ho), The Swiss band None Of Them from Zurich makes music for the twenty-second century. The duo is constantly deconstructing its stylistic boundaries and follows traditions only to destroy them. On stage, Signup is the master of ceremony, Michal Ho the selector. Vocals flow over bass-heavy beats and guitars – generated in little boxes full of flashing lights – sometimes smoothly, sometimes it all cuts you as sharp as a razor. The music ranges from bassy raps to gothic rock, from abstract hip hop to heavy electronica. Some might call it nu wave or ugly pop, an older generation might recognize a fresh take on the crossover genre of the late eighties and early nineties. None of Them's core consists of Zainab Lascandri (vocals, programming) and Michal Holy (programming, vocals). Their work is a combination of psychedelic punkstep, funky goth-rock, and pop concrete.

Tim & Puma Mimi describe themselves as sushi served with Swiss chocolate for wasabi. As off-the-wall as that sounds, that’s just an appetizer in their world. This Swiss-Japanese duo, who for the most part reside in Zurich, have been crafting a colorful, wacky world for themselves (and us) for more than a decade now. They’ve been spotted using a cucumber to trigger their synthesizers, to prove how crazy triggering interface design could get, if you wanted it to. (It’s worth noting, however, that Tim often complained that these funky veggies made a mess of his keyboard.) As far as we know, they were also the first to utilize Skype during live shows. On their first tour, while Tim was performing in clubs scattered around Europe, Puma Mimi joined him nightly, beamed up to a screen behind him – as she performed the songs from her Tokyo apartment, while having her first cup of coffee before going off to work. All these quirks and eccentricities, of course, pale next to the music. On their latest release, Der Die Das (the German articles), Tim & Puma Mimi not only pushed their idiosyncrasies to the maximum, but also refined them to perfection. By analogy, it’s as if Towa Tei and Lady Miss Kier of Deee-Lite ran into Giorgio Moroder at the thickest, craziest 90s rave. Then all of them took copious amounts of mushrooms and turned into anime characters who just so happened to live in an 8-bit video game. Then, somehow, they were all teleported back to 2016 and made a record together about this entire experience. The point is that Der Die Das is a wildly bizarre ride, one that manages to weave the very roots of Electronica, with a touch of that sexy, sensual 90s rave music, some great pop songwriting and a bit of an 8-bit aesthetic. And it does this using a modern production craft. Their performance will include a live-steam video performance from Zurich.

Located at the heart of Europe, Zurich is a cultural melting pot and 21st century innovation hub. The city excels in producing innovative solutions in science, technology, art and lifestyle. Efficiency and excellence is rooted in the city’s tradition.

Zürich meets San Francisco – A Festival Of Two Cities is part of a global celebration series connecting Zurich with the other cities in the world in productive dialogue. In 2018, the festival arrives in San Francisco, everybody's favorite city.

Zürich meets San Francisco presents the arts & culture, science & technology, and food & lifestyle of Zurich and San Francisco, featuring a series of spectacles in different venues. Activities range from exhibitions, concerts, performances, workshops, academic conferences, and dialogue between city administrations.

What is the future of mobility in our cities? What is a Designathon? Who is your Traumboy? What happens when a Zurich and San Francisco chef meet?

The festival program offers a broad palette of opportunities to celebrate the spirit of innovation, that bonds Zurich and San Francisco. It also provides a platform for exchange of fresh ideas among performing and visual artists, scientists, politicians, philosophers, musicians and top chocolatiers.

We invite you all to explore the diversity and creative life in Zurich and San Francisco!

Soundwave is a Bay Area non-profit organization promoting innovative voices in sound with the most captivating sound art and performance experiences. Founded in 1998, Soundwave is a San Francisco-based 501(c)3 nonprofit arts organization showcasing emerging and established local artists, as well as national and international artists, to bring groundbreaking ideas and perspectives to Bay Area audiences.

The Center for New Music is a community hub for creative, noncommercial, contemporary music, a space for new music to thrive. C4NM is a space for artists to support each other, a central hub in the Bay Area for art-making and management. During the day, C4NM is a co-working space where artists, arts professionals, and nonprofit organizations can work, rent office space, rehearse, host meetings, and hold workshops. On the evenings and weekend C4NM is a dynamic venue, hosting approximately 150 concerts and events each year including curated concerts, C4NM member concerts, community rentals, and touring acts. C4NM is a platform for a diverse community of both emerging and established artists to present their work at our highly accessible yet professional venue.

Justin Charles Hoover is the co-founder and principle of Collective Action Studio (CAS), a curatorial and creative solutions company based out of San Francisco. His work spans media from performance and video, to sculpture, installation, festival management, and public art. CAS produces artwork, curates exhibitions, organizes events, and develops community-based educational projects. CAS works in collaboration with artists, communities and institutions to develop access, equity, justice and positive learning outcomes through the arts.