The Sonus Rex Label NYC
During the past two decades documented as an innovative contributor to one of the world's leading creative performance arts communities-the New York City music scene, as well as nationally, in the United States and internationally. The Sonus Rex label, as often is, started small, under the radar and with little else but a pronounced personal artistic vision and mission. Via eaaly 1980s recordings done on 2-track reel to reel tape, preceded by 16-track to 2-track master tape-recorded, and DIY produced, and fanzine distributed cassette compilations in a time when Progressive Jazz Fusion cross-bred with Punk and New Wave. Along with concert and workshop encounters with legendary finger-style blues guitarists Big Joe Williams, and jazz piano master Horace Parlan, that all served to inspire the creative process. Transformed formative key experiences still inherently embodied and represented in the label's philosophy.

Encouraged by mentor, modern Jazz icon Paul Bley, and via work alongside some of the most prolific jazz musicians of the new jazz generation with Guillermo Klein's large ensemble Big Van (Ref: NY Times 1995, Jazz Times 1997, All Music Guide 1997) in residency at Smalls Jazz Club, New York City, during the inception of the influential venue, and on tour in Argentina. As well as appearances as a featured soloist and arranger on Scandinavian recordings, festivals, concerts and tours, in support of mainstream Jazz artists Rob McConnell, Bobby Shew and Deborah Brown. Empowered by grants from Swedish Arts Grants Committee, Sten Hostfalt started his own label, g-wOw in 2002, to facilitate the production of recordings as a leader. That in 2006, morphed into Brooklyn NY registered Sonus Rex, to organize music production and education endeavors in New York City, as as well as elsewhere in the United States, and internationally. 

Today, celebrating nearly two decades in orbit, a catalog of nine releases, and the organization of hundreds of live concert events, all of which have included a long list of some of the most prolific improvising musicians, artists and audio engineers on the New York City and global creative music scene. As documented by members of the international jazz journalist community, John Kelman, Barry Cleveland, Grego Applegate Edwards, Larry Cosentino, Kenneth Egbert, Don Williamson and Natasha Washington, and Hank Shteamer. Via publications such as Signal To Noise, All About Jazz, Guitar Player, Cadence, Jazz Now, Jazz Review, Time Out NY, Altrisuoni (Italy), TomaJazz (Spain), Orkesterjournalen (Sweden), Jazz Guitar International, and JazzViews (UK).

Musicians and artists enlisted for endeavors of, or directly preceding what now is Sonus Rex, have included bassists Tim Luntzel, Richard Hammond, Matt Pavolka, Bruno Råberg, Matthew Garrison, and Shayna Dulberger, saxophonists Ole Mathisen, Blaise Siwula, Matthew Renzi, Don Houge, and Noah Preminger, drummers Marko Djordjevic, Dave Miller, Lise-Lotte Norelius, and Jimmy Weinstein, trumpet players Takuya Nakamura, Johnny Lapio, and David Boato, vocalists Melissa Kassel, Lilliana Santon, and Constance Cooper, keyboardist Evan Gallagher, vibraphonist Tom Beckham, violaist Robyn Siwula, violinist Katt Hernandez, bassoonist Claire de Brunner, trombonist Stan Nishimura, guitarist Bruce Arnold, poet Raymond Todd, and, choreographer and dance artist Savina Theodorou. Audio engineers and studios collaborated with include Greg Thompson at Kampo NYC, Doug Henderson of Micro-Moose, Brooklyn, Eric Tew at Toxic Audio, and Peter Kontrimas, Boston, MA, Marc Trewella's Full Circle Mastering, Philadelphia, PA, Göran Stegborn at SAMI, Stockholm, and Mattz Larsson and Per Westerlund at the Swedish Radio Studios.

Venues and organizations that have hosted Sten Hostfalt's projects, as Sonus Rex, or preceding independent labels, or similarly related, including solo performances by Sten Hostfalt, include: New York City's ABC No Rio, The Bowery Poetry Club, Symphony Space, Knitting Factory (Leonard Street), Carlito's Cafe'/Art For Change, Shrine, University of the Streets, Goodbye Blue Monday, Eat Records, Stain Bar, Freddie's Backroom, Nublu, The Issue Project Room, and ShapeShifter Lab, Brooklyn, NY. Bowerbird, Philadelphia PA, Zeitgeist Gallery, and Lizard Lounge, Cambridge MA. The Willow, The Eastern Front, Ryles Jazz Club and WBRS Radio Brandeis, Boston MA. New World School of The Arts, Miami, FL. Fundacio' Joan Miro', Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Club Le Triton, Les Lilas, France (via the Swedish Arts Council, and the Arts Committee of Sweden). Uppsala Jazz Club. Sandviken Big Bang Jazz Festival, and the Swedish Radio. 

With a pronounced anolog past, current Sonus Rex productions currently utilizes an all digital Apple MacIntosh based studio with a Universal Audio interface, Pro Tools, Ableton, Logic Pro X, and Luna DAW's, and Wavelab for Mastering. Yamaha and Genelec monitoring, Furman line conditioning, additional software processing from Universal Audio, Eventide, SSL, Dangerous Audio, Chandler, API, Neve, Harrison, Soundtoys, Softube, Relab, Izotope, IK Multimedia, FabFilter, Lexicon, and SSL. Microphones from AKG, Shure, Sennheiser and Audio-Technica. Keyboards from Yamaha and Novation, guitars and basses from Gibson, Fender, Guild, Danelectro, Yamaha, and Manuel Adalid. And an assorted Mandolin, Banjo, Oud and Ukulele string instrument resource.

Education: NYC Guitar Studio (Sten's Guitar Studio)
Programmatically, a multi-genre, cross-cultural, progressive creative music studio operation, with a pronounced learner-centered philosophy, building on Sten Hostfalt's long-time (since 1992) studies and in-performance active exploration of the parameter of pitch, as documented on recordings and in concerts over the past twenty years, Sten's Guitar Studio is one of few facilities anywhere offering systematic explorative microtonal music studies for the standard 12-fret, 6-string guitar, as well as other instruments. 

As the educational division of Sonus Rex, initially located in Brooklyn, and then relocated to Manhattan as NYC Guitar Studio, and currently, referred to as Sten's Guitar Studio. The lessons and sessions, hosted by Michiko Studios, as well as Rivington Music, and Funkadelic, has for the past eighteen years catered to students of all ages and levels of proficiency, through instruction in classical, and electric guitar, electric bass, mandolin, ukulele, piano, composition, and music theory as well as digital audio recording and production techniques.

Upon request, coaching have included preparation for audition, application and successful admission to music programs and institutions at Berklee College of Music, SUNY Purchase-The State University of New York, University of Michigan School of Theatre and Dance, Bard College, Eastman School of Music, Manhattan School of Music, The New School for Social Research, New York, The Special Music School at Kaufman Center NYC, Bard College, Western Illinois University and The Jazz Academy at Jazz at Lincoln Center NYC. In addition, musical instruction have also been provided to students enrolled at Juilliard School of Music, Columbia University, Rockefeller University, New York University, The Royal College of Music in Stockholm, Fiorello LaGuardia High School for The Performing Arts, City University of New York, Mannes School of Music, Brown University, The New World School for The Arts, Miami-Dade College, FL, and Berklee College of Music. Also catering to music industry professionals, music instruction services and coaching have been provided to recording and touring artists signed to RCA, Rough Trade, SONY, ECM and Sub Pop, Nonesuch, and Rough Trade Records, to music industry professionals employed by Eventide, and representatives of major record label services for SONY, Columbia and Epic.

As an educator, Sten Hostfalt holds a Masters Degree in Music Education from Columbia University's Teachers College, coupled with an in-process Advanced Certificate in Music Education, from City University of New York CUNY, at Brooklyn College. As well as a Masters Degree in Composition, and a Graduate Diploma in Performance/Jazz guitar from New England Conservatory. Along with a Bachelors Degree in Professional Music/Jazz Guitar from Berklee College of Music. And a Digital Music Production certificate from the Royal College of Music, Stockholm. Initially mainly self-taught, his subsequent formal training include classical guitar studies with Björn Werngren, Bengt Edqvist (Hoffner), Henry Nilzon, and Richard Jakobowski. Jazz Guitar with Bengt Holmqvist, Jon Damian and Mick Goodrick. Piano with Victor Lin. Composition and theory with Malcolm Peyton, James Hoffmann, Pozzi Escot, Jimmy Giuffre, Joe Maneri, and George Russell, orchestration with Lee Hyla. As well as composition masterclasses with Toru Takemitsu and Györgi Ligeti. And introduction to Arabic Music with Brian Prunka, and Indian music with Peter Row. 

He has served as an instructor in acoustic and electric guitar, bass, piano, composition and digital/electronic music production at Columbia University's Teachers College. As well as, as a teacher at The Royal College of Music in Stockholm, and via the Office of Continuing Education at Queensborough Community College, City University of New York*. And served as a lecturer at New World School for the Arts, Miami, FL, Berklee College of Music, and in workshops at Colegio Ward and Centro Cultural San Martin, Buenos Aires Argentina, as a member of Guillermo Klein's ensemble. Additional education work include as a music teacher at First Flight Music School, East Village New York, as an assistant guitar instructor at Skurup's Folk High School, Sweden. And as a faculty member of New York Jazz Academy, since the 2009 inception, including performances at Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium, New York City. *DISCLAIMER: Sten Hostfalt's DBA operations, Sonus Rex and Sten's NYC Guitar Studio are not affiliated with Queensborough Community College, or The City University of New York.

As a theorist and researcher in music and music education, Sten Hostfalt's research interests include exploration of the parameter of pitch, expansion of the standard resource, practice and repertoire in improvised music idioms, inter-generational collaborative music interchange, and issues of systemic marginalization of the working class in academia. Mr. Hostfalt is a member of the National Association for Music Educators, New York State School Music Association, the Society for Research in Music Education, the American Federation of Musicians, Associated Musicians of Greater New York-Local 802, The Society for Music Theory, Guitar Foundation of America, the Audio Engineering Society, Jazz Foundation of America, and BMI.