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Project VO is an improvising duo between Antti Virtaranta and Rieko Okuda working since 2010. They self released an album, glass hopper
(, in 2012 and have since continued expanding their creative ways of navigating the free
improvisation landscape.

The combination of piano and bass has taken Project VO on a sonic journey that keeps pushing them to new directions
in their performances. A large part of Project VO is also collaborating with other musicians. Having a sound that can accommodate collaboration
makes the music continuously find new paths in music.

Rieko Okuda is a pianist and a composer. She began with Classical music from the age of 3, in Japan. At a young age she attended Kaizuka city Piano Competition, and won the first prize. Later she moved to USA to study Jazz music. She fell right into the Jazz scene, performing with some of the great American Jazz musicians like Bob Mintzer, Jon Faddis and John Fedchock. She also got interested in the Free Jazz and Improvised music scene while in Phliladelphia where she performed with the great improvisers Marshall Allen (from San Ra Orchestra), Elliott Levine (recorded with Cecil Taylor), and Calvin Weston (recorded with Ornette Coleman). She performed in Jazz Festivals throughout her stay in USA.

Her interests in Improvised music led her to move to Berlin and perform with various musicians. Currently, she performs with Audrey Chen, Els Vendaweyer, Susanne Zapf (from Sonar Quartet), Yuko Kaseki, Axel Dörner, ect. She also performs at several experimental festivals like XChange Festival, Experymental Festival, and Art-Sound Festival.
