Artist, (instant) composer, alto saxophone player, performer, installation artist, drawer and theorist.

Thomas Olbrechts studied contemporary art at the Sint-Lucas Hogeschool Brussel, alto saxophone with André Goudbeek and improvisation at the conservatoire royal de Liège (with Garret List).

For more than 10 years Thomas Olbrechts has been working on Instant Composition, searching for clear strategies and systems to find the most perfect balance between composition and improvisation balancing between preconceived structures and the lucidity of the moment which in his opinion can only be fully attained through an open – structured attitude towards music.

Thomas Olbrechts is (together with Joachim Devillé (trumpet) and Stefan Prins (piano)) co-founder of the Instant Composition trio COLLECTIEF REFLEXIBLE that is creating a platform for contemporary improvisation and experimental arts in Belgium (Brussels and Antwerp) by organizing concerts, performances, lectures.

He is working on contemporary experimental composition with the contemporary music ensemble CHAMP D’ ACTION performing works by Karlheinz Essl, Cornelius Cardew and James Tenney … He works on Contemporary experimental ‘Jazz’ with the Brussels Underground trio DRY SPEED (Joachim Devllé: trumpet, Dirk Wauters: percussion). Thomas Olbrechts has been involved in many other projects working together with visual artists, musicians, actors, composers and ensembles such as Arne Deforce, Ned Rothenberg, Hilary Jeffery, Paul Rutherfort, Karlheinz Essl, Fred van Hove, Stefaan Quix, Peter Kowald, Paal Nilsson Love, Fred Lonberg Holm, Fedor Teunisse & Marcel Andriessen – Slagwerkgroep Den Haag, Eric Thielemans, Peter Jacquemyn, Robert van Heumen, Christoph Deboeck, Frederik de Wilde, Kevin Drumm, Jean – Philippe Convert, David Karam, Peter Swinnen, Tom Pauwels, Bart Maris, Johannes & Connie Bauer, The Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet, Joe mc Phee, Steve Swell, Jeffrey Morgan, Bateau Lavoir, Fabien DeLathauer and many many others