Max-E-Keller-am-Klavier-mit-Dani-Schaffner-Hans-Suter-Stefan-Wyler-Copyright-Foto-Monica-Boirar-aka-Monica-Beurer

Max Eugen Keller (born 19 March 1947,

Aarau Aarau (, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital of the northern Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau. The List of towns in Switzerland, town is also the capital of the dis ...

) is a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

jazz pianist Jazz piano is a collective term for the techniques pianists use when playing jazz. The piano has been an integral part of the jazz idiom since its inception, in both solo and ensemble settings. Its role is multifaceted due largely to the instru ...

and improvising musician. He was one of the first free-jazz musicians in Switzerland. Since 2007 he is chairman of the Swiss Society for New Music.

Life and work

Keller studied (fellowship by the Heinrich Strobel Foundation in Freiburg, Germany)

musicology Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

and

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

with

Hans Ulrich Lehmann Hans Ulrich Lehmann (4 May 1937 – 26 January 2013) was a Swiss composer. Education Hans Ulrich Lehmann studied violoncello at the Biel Conservatory in his hometown and music theory with Paul Müller-Zürich at the Zurich University of the Arts. ...

and

Helmut Lachenmann Helmut Friedrich Lachenmann (born 27 November 1935) is a German composer of contemporary classical music. His work has been associated with "instrumental musique concrète". Life and works Lachenmann was born in Stuttgart and after the end of ...

''Eine schweizerische Klangsatire an der Nürnberger Pocket-Opera,'' ''Opern Welt'' 28 (1987): 46. at the

City of Basel Music Academy The City of Basel Music Academy (german: Musik-Akademie der Stadt Basel) is an institution for music education, located in Basel, Switzerland. It comprises a music school, college of music, and a center for early music research and performance. ...

and with

Nicolaus A. Huber Nicolaus A. Huber (born 15 December 1939) is a German composer. Education Huber was born in Passau. From 1958 to 1962 he studied music education at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München and subsequently composition with Franz Xaver Lehn ...

and Thomas Kessler. In 1966 he began his career as one of the first Swiss artists of

free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians during ...

. In 1967, he had a sensational performance at the Zurich Jazz Festival. He played in various bands in concerts and on radio broadcasts in Europe. Since 1980 he worked as an improvising musician (piano and

electronic musical instruments Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

) again. Concerts have taken him to South America, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. He worked together with Dani Schaffner, Christoph Gallio, Peter A. Schmid, , Kurt Grämiger, Daniel Mouthon, Thomas Borgmann, Hans Koch, Urs Leimgruber,

Günter Müller Günter Müller (born October 20, 1954) is a German sound artist who originally performed as a percussionist and drummer, active primarily in free improvisation. He was born in Munich, West Germany, but has lived in Switzerland since 1966. Bac ...

, Hans Hassler, Charlotte Hug,

Matthias Ziegler Matthias Ziegler (b. Bern, Switzerland, February 13, 1955) is a Swiss flautist and professor of flute who specializes in contemporary music for various sizes of flute (including flute, alto flute, bass flute, and contrabass flute). Early life a ...

, Christian Wolfarth, Günter Heinz and

Barry Guy Barry John Guy (born 22 April 1947, in London) is an English composer and double bass player. His range of interests encompasses early music, contemporary composition, jazz and improvisation, and he has worked with a wide variety of orchestras ...

. He has composed about 100 works, including

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

. He produce a chamber opera (commission of the

Komische Oper Berlin The Komische Oper Berlin is a German opera company based in Berlin. The company produces opera, operetta and musicals. The opera house is located on Behrenstraße, just a few steps from Unter den Linden. Since 2004, the Komische Oper Berlin, a ...

) and several songs. His compositions have been performed in Europe, Australia, South Africa, North and South America, Russia, Korea, China, Mongolia and Azerbaijan (including the World Music Days in Zurich (1991) and Mexico (1993)). Performers were the

Orchester Musikkollegium Winterthur The Orchester Musikkollegium Winterthur is a Swiss symphony orchestra based in Winterthur, Switzerland at its namesake venue, the Musikkollegium Winterthur. The orchestra performs around 60 concerts a year, and in addition to orchestra concerts, p ...

, the

Tonhalle Orchester Zürich Tonhalle is a German word meaning "tone hall", a concert hall. It may refer to: *Tonhalle Düsseldorf *Tonhalle Orchester Zürich *Tonhalle, Zürich The Tonhalle is a concert hall in Zurich, home to the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, one of Switzer ...

, the

Ensemble Sortisatio Ensemble Sortisatio is a quartet (viola, oboe/cor anglais, bassoon and guitar) founded by violist Matthias Sannemüller in 1992 in Leipzig, Germany. Its members are mostly soloists at the MDR Symphony Orchestra. They have specialized in contempora ...

and the Hanns Eisler New Music Group. From 2007 to 2010 he is chairman of the Swiss Society for Contemporary Music (successor to

Jean-Luc Darbellay Jean-Luc Darbellay (born 2 July 1946) is a Swiss composer, conductor, clarinetist and physician. He was chairman of the Swiss Society for New Music and board member of the International Society for Contemporary Music. Darbellay is a member of the ...

Awards

* 1997: Carl Heinrich Ernst Art Prize * 2006: Art Prize of Winterthur

External links

*
Homepage of Max E. Keller

Biography of Max E. Keller
at Musinfo

at Klassika

at the Living Composers Project

References

1947 births Living people Swiss classical composers Swiss jazz pianists Free improvising musicians 21st-century classical composers 20th-century classical composers Swiss male classical composers Male jazz pianists 21st-century pianists 20th-century male musicians 21st-century male musicians Swiss male jazz musicians 20th-century Swiss composers 21st-century Swiss composers {{jazz-pianist-stub