Eloi Calame, a musician (clarinet, bass clarinet, saxophones, nay), composer, and arranger born in 1992 in Geneva.
Starting the clarinet at the age of eight, Eloi has always been immersed in music. First in the classical realm, where he earned a certificate from the Geneva Popular Conservatory of Music with honors from the jury. Later, he ventured into jazz, earning a bachelor's degree from the Hochschule Der Kunst Bern and the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, followed by a Master's degree from the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen. During his studies, he spent three months in Egypt on a residency supported by the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen, where he developed projects blending jazz and traditional Arabic music.
Eloi has collaborated with numerous international musicians such as Barry Guy (EN), Lotte Anker (DK), Halym Kim (KOR), Jonas Engel (DE), Mohammed Antar (EG), Ayman Mabrouk (EG), Pia Podgornik (SLO), as well as director Omar Porras (COL), visual artist Leonard Veuthey (CH), and performer Olivia Vidal (CH). He has performed in Switzerland, France, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, Brazil, and Egypt.
In 2016, he started a duo with Slovenian saxophonist Pia Podgornik, a project based on microtonal experimentation and timbre research. The music was entirely composed by the two musicians. This duo toured in the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Slovenia between 2016 and 2017.
In 2018, he launched his first trio project with Berlin saxophonist Jonas Engel and Korean drummer Halym Kim, where he composed all the music performed. The group performed extensively in Denmark and recorded their first album.
In the spring of 2019, he organized a tour in Denmark with two internationally renowned Egyptian musicians, Mohammed Antar (nay) and Ayman Mabrouk (percussion), supported by the Nørrebro Lokal Udvalg foundation. He composed the majority of the music performed, using a skillful blend of Arabic and Western music.
Since February 2020, following a residency in Turin organized by ICR (International Creative Residences), Eloi launched his first quartet with Italian musicians Pasquale Calo (tenor saxophone), Marco Piccirello (bass), and Alessandro Compobasso (drums). In early 2021, he created a second quartet consisting of Swiss musicians Nicolas Masson (tenor saxophone), Pierre Balda (double bass), and Noé Franklé (drums). Since September 2021, Eloi has been one of the 12 associated artists of the l'Abri foundation. L’Abri supports emerging artists from all backgrounds in their projects, with various objectives including creating conducive contexts for production and co-production, promoting the artistic projects of the associated artists, and helping them disseminate their creations.
Since 2017, Eloi has collaborated with numerous artists in the Swiss and international dub scene for studio recordings and live performances (Ashanti Selah (GB), Ubik (CH), Canaan I (DK), Akashan Tribe (CH), Dub Across Borders (DK)).
Since 2017, Eloi has also been the creator and artistic director of Arboretum, an artistic experimentation laboratory and occasional events held in various locations in Geneva. This project aims to provide a platform for local and international artists from various fields (music, dance, theater, poetry, etc.), strengthen connections between different artistic domains, and allow the Swiss audience to discover avant-garde works during their creation and development. The association has already welcomed several dozen Swiss, French, Slovenian, South African, and Danish artists in its first twenty editions.
In February 2022, he joined the programming team of AMR, the Association for the Promotion of Improvised Music. He programmed two festivals and around sixty concerts throughout the year 2022.
In 2020, Eloi began mixing eclectic and festive music (from cumbia to acid Arabic to afro house) in Swiss clubs and abroad (Case à Chocs (CH), Bolsjefabrikken (DK), Canal 54 (CH), etc.).
