Michael Wollny (born 25 May 1978) is a German
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
pianist and a professor at the
Hochschule für Musik und Theater Leipzig
The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig (german: Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig) is a public university in Leipzig (Saxony, Germany). Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn ...
. He has played with international musicians including
Joachim Kühn
Joachim Kurt Kühn (born 15 March 1944) is a German jazz pianist.
Biography
He was born in Leipzig, Germany. Kühn was a musical prodigy and made his debut as a concert pianist, having studied classical piano and composition, with Arthur Schmid ...
,
Tamar Halperin
Tamar Halperin (born 1976) is an Israeli harpsichordist, pianist and musicologist. She has played Baroque music in historically informed performance, but also classical repertory and jazz with a big band.
Career
Born in Tel Aviv, Halperin gre ...
,
Marius Neset,
Andreas Schaerer,
Émile Parisien
Émile Parisien (born 12 October 1982) is a French soprano and alto saxophonist, jazz musician, and composer.
Career
Émile Parisien entered the fifth class at the age of 11 in the first class of Marciac's ''College de jazz'', where he studi ...
and
Vincent Peirani
Vincent Peirani (born 24 April 1980) is a French jazz accordionist, vocalist and composer who has played internationally, collaborating with Denis Colin, François Jeanneau, Youn Sun Nah, Émile Parisien, Michel Portal, Louis Sclavis, and Micha ...
, and recorded award-winning albums. In his Michael Wollny Trio, he has played with percussionist and bassist
Tim Lefebvre
Tim Lefebvre (born February 4, 1968) is an American bass guitarist. Both as a session musician and band member, he has worked with a wide range of musicians, including David Bowie, The Black Crowes, Elvis Costello, Sting, Empire of the Sun, The S ...
.
Education
Wollny took piano and violin lessons at the Musikschule Schweinfurt and at the Hermann Zilcher Conservatory in
Würzburg
Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River.
Würzburg is ...
until 1997, successfully competing in the
Jugend musiziert
''Jugend musiziert'' is a music competition for children and adolescents in Germany on regional, federal and national level.
''Jugend musiziert'' in Germany
In Germany, the nationwide competition refers to young adults up to 20 years and for the ...
. He then studied at the
Hochschule für Musik Würzburg
The Hochschule für Musik Würzburg (University of Music Würzburg) was founded in 1797 by Franz Joseph Fröhlich as Collegium musicum academicum (Academic college of music). From 1921 to 1973, it was named Bayerisches Staatskonservatorium der Mu ...
with .
He took the artistic diploma with distinction in 2002, and the master classes diploma in 2004.
He also studied with
John Taylor and
Walter Norris
Walter Norris (December 27, 1931 – October 29, 2011) was an American pianist and composer.
Biography
Early life and career
Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, on December 27, 1931, Norris first studied piano at home with his mother, then with J ...
.
Career
From 1998 to 2002, Wollny was a member of the touring . He also played in a quartet led by . Wollny's debut album was recorded with Wolfgang Kriener and Joachim Leyh. Wollny has played with
Heinz Sauer
Heinz Sauer (born December 25, 1932, Merseburg) is a German jazz saxophonist.
Sauer was an autodidact on tenor saxophone and began his career playing locally around Frankfurt in the 1950s. He played for many years in Albert Mangelsdorff's ense ...
from 2001 both as a duo and in a quartet. He was also a member of the trio , with bassist
Eva Kruse
Eva Kruse (born 16 October 1978) is a German jazz musician (upright bass, bass guitar) and composer.
Biography
Kruse was raised in Brunsbek in Schleswig-Holstein. In her childhood and youth, she received eleven years of classical piano lesson ...
and percussionist .
He recorded CDs as a member of the group Young Friends (''Great German Songbook'', 2005), with Winter (''Different Kind of Stories'', 2003), with (''Beyond Your Thoughts'', ''Sound of Silence''), and with
Nils Landgren (''The Moon, The Stars and You'', 2011), among others. He was a regular pianist at the
Staatstheater Nürnberg
The Staatstheater Nürnberg is a German theatre company in Nuremberg, Bavaria. The theatre is one of four Bavarian state theatres and shows operas, plays, ballets and concerts.
History
Its main venue, the opera house ("Opernhaus Nürnberg"), i ...
and the
Nationaltheater Mannheim
The Mannheim National Theatre (german: Nationaltheater Mannheim) is a theatre and opera company in Mannheim, Germany, with a variety of performance spaces. It was founded in 1779 and is one of the oldest theatres in Germany.
History
In the 18 ...
from 1999.
In 2005 Wollny signed a contract with the label
ACT Music + Vision on which he released several albums with his trio and in collaboration with other artists, such as Sauer and Nils Landgren. In 2007 he released his first solo album ''Hexentanz''. In 2014 his trio, now with bassist
Tim Lefebvre
Tim Lefebvre (born February 4, 1968) is an American bass guitarist. Both as a session musician and band member, he has worked with a wide range of musicians, including David Bowie, The Black Crowes, Elvis Costello, Sting, Empire of the Sun, The S ...
, recorded the album ''Weltentraum'', which made the pop charts.
[Chartdiskografie Deutschland](_blank)
/ref> A review in ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' noted "They are one of the world's great jazz-driven piano trios, and Nachtfahrten takes nothing away from this assessment." In 2017, he was an artist in residence (''Fokus Jazz: Michael Wollny'') of the Rheingau Musik Festival
The (RMF) is an international summer music festival in Germany, founded in 1987. It is mostly for classical music, but includes other genres. Concerts take place at culturally important locations, such as Eberbach Abbey and Schloss Johannisberg, ...
, interviewed in a ''Rendezvous'', and playing three concerts, improvising with Marius Neset in the first, with vocalist Andreas Schaerer, Émile Parisien
Émile Parisien (born 12 October 1982) is a French soprano and alto saxophonist, jazz musician, and composer.
Career
Émile Parisien entered the fifth class at the age of 11 in the first class of Marciac's ''College de jazz'', where he studi ...
and Vincent Peirani
Vincent Peirani (born 24 April 1980) is a French jazz accordionist, vocalist and composer who has played internationally, collaborating with Denis Colin, François Jeanneau, Youn Sun Nah, Émile Parisien, Michel Portal, Louis Sclavis, and Micha ...
in the second, and finally with his trio and the Norwegian Wind Ensemble.
Since 2014 Wollny has lived with his family in Leipzig, where he is a professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Leipzig
The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig (german: Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig) is a public university in Leipzig (Saxony, Germany). Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn ...
.
Awards
Wollny has been awarded several scholarships and prizes, including the cultural prize of Schweinfurt
Schweinfurt ( , ; ) is a city in the district of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the surrounding district (''Landkreis'') of Schweinfurt and a major industrial, cultural and educational hub. The urban agg ...
in 2003, and in 2005 both the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik
The Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik ("German Record Critics' Award") was established in Germany in 1963 by publisher Richard Kaselowsky with the aim of setting the "most rigorous standards for supreme achievement and quality" in the field ...
(for ''Melancholia'' with Heinz Sauer
Heinz Sauer (born December 25, 1932, Merseburg) is a German jazz saxophonist.
Sauer was an autodidact on tenor saxophone and began his career playing locally around Frankfurt in the 1950s. He played for many years in Albert Mangelsdorff's ense ...
) and the Bayerischer Kunstförderpreis
Bayerischer Kunstförderpreis is a Bavarian arts and literary prize.
Selected winners
Source:
2002
:Performing arts
* Stefanie Dietrich (actress)
* Barbara Schöller (actress)
* Christian Hettkamp (actor)
* Marc Oliver Schulze (actor)
...
. He received the ''Choc de l'annee 2006'' from the French magazine ''Jazzman'' (for ''Certain Beauty'' with Heinz Sauer), the ''Jazzpreis'' of the ''Nürnberger Nachrichten
The Nürnberger Nachrichten (NN) was originally a local daily in the Nuremberg-Erlangen-Fürth area. With its regional editions, it covers the whole of Middle Franconia and parts of Upper Franconia and the Upper Palatinate and is one of Germany's ...
'' in 2007, and in 2008 the , again with Heinz Sauer. He was awarded the Echo Jazz The Echo Jazz (stylized as ECHO JAZZ) was a German music prize, an Echo Music Prize for personalities and production of jazz. It was awarded annually by the between 2010 and 2018.
The awards had been given in 30 categories, including ensemble of ...
in the category Instrumentalist/in des Jahres national - Piano/Keyboards in 2010 when the prize was awarded for the first time.
The trio received Ronnie Scott's Jazz Award as Most Promising International Newcomer of the Year in London in May 2007. In 2011, they received the (as a band, and for Wollny as the best soloist), and the Echo Jazz in the category Ensemble des Jahres national.[Echo Jazz Hintergrund](_blank)
(retrieved 29 December 2017) In 2013, Wollny received the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik for his album ''Don't Explain – Live in Concert'' with Heinz Sauer, and the . The trio received the Echo Jazz as ensemble of the year. Wollny and Sauer were awarded the in 2013. In 2015 and 2016 he was again awarded the Echo Jazz.
Discography
Recordings with Wollny have included:
* Wollny / Kriener / Leyh: ''CDNR3'' (2001)
* Heinz Sauer / Michael Wollny: ''Melancholia'' (2004)
* Young Friends: ''Great German Song Book'' (2005)
* Wollny / Kruse / Schaefer: ''Call it m' (2005)
* Heinz Sauer / Michael Wollny: ''Certain Beauty'' (2006)
* Michael Wollny: ''Piano Works VII: Hexentanz'' (2007)
* Wollny / Kruse / Schaefer: '' m3'' (2008)
* Joachim Kühn
Joachim Kurt Kühn (born 15 March 1944) is a German jazz pianist.
Biography
He was born in Leipzig, Germany. Kühn was a musical prodigy and made his debut as a concert pianist, having studied classical piano and composition, with Arthur Schmid ...
/ Michael Wollny: ''live at Schloss Elmau
Schloss Elmau is a four-story castle and national monument with hipped roof, tower and porch, situated between Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Mittenwald in a sanctuary of the Bavarian Alps, Germany. It lies at the foot of the Wetterstein mountai ...
'' (2009)
* Michael Wollny / Tamar Halperin
Tamar Halperin (born 1976) is an Israeli harpsichordist, pianist and musicologist. She has played Baroque music in historically informed performance, but also classical repertory and jazz with a big band.
Career
Born in Tel Aviv, Halperin gre ...
: ''Wunderkammer'' (2009)
* Wollny / Kruse / Schaefer: '' mLIVE'' (2010)
* Nils Landgren: ''The Moon, the Stars and You'', with Richard Galliano
Richard Galliano (born 12 December 1950, Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes) is a French accordionist of Italian heritage. Allmusic biography/ref>
Biography
He was drawn to music at an early age, starting with the accordion at 4, influenced by his father ...
, Lars Danielsson
Lars Danielsson (born 5 September 1958) is a Swedish jazz bassist, composer, and record producer.
Biography
Danielsson was born in Smålandsstenar, and was educated at the music conservatory in Gothenburg. He plays double bass, electric bass ...
, Joe Sample, Michael Wollny, Rasmus Kihlberg, Steve Gadd
Stephen Kendall Gadd (born April 9, 1945) is an American drummer, percussionist, and session musician. Gadd is one of the best-known and highly regarded session and studio drummers in the industry, recognized by his induction into the ''Modern D ...
& Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra ( sv, Kungliga Filharmonikerna or , literal translations, "Royal Philharmonic" or "Royal Philharmonic Orchestra") is a Swedish orchestra based in Stockholm. Its principal venue is the Konserthuset.
His ...
(2011)
* Nils Landgren / Michael Wollny: ''Fragile At Schloss Elmau'' (2011)
* Wollny / Kruse / Schaefer: '' mWasted & Wanted'' (2012)
* Heinz Sauer / Michael Wollny: ''Don't Explain - Live in Concert'' (2013)
* Iiro Rantala
Iiro Rantala (born 1970, in Helsinki) is a Finnish jazz pianist. He studied piano in the jazz department of Sibelius Academy and classical piano at the Manhattan School of Music. He is one of the best known Finnish jazz pianists, both in Finlan ...
/ Leszek Możdżer
Leszek Możdżer (Polish pronunciation: born Lesław Henryk Możdżer, 23 March 1971, Gdańsk) is a Polish jazz pianist, music producer and film score composer.
Life and career
Możdżer was born on 23 March 1971 in Gdańsk. He began to play t ...
/ Michael Wollny: ''Jazz at Berlin Philharmonie I'' (2013)
* Vincent Peirani
Vincent Peirani (born 24 April 1980) is a French jazz accordionist, vocalist and composer who has played internationally, collaborating with Denis Colin, François Jeanneau, Youn Sun Nah, Émile Parisien, Michel Portal, Louis Sclavis, and Micha ...
with Michael Wollny & Michel Benita: ''Thrill Box'' (2013)
* Michael Wollny Trio: ''Weltentraum'' (2014) (2014: Goldene Schallplatte
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
, Jazz Award),Gold-/Platin-Datenbank des Bundesverbandes Musikindustrie, Abruf vom 11. November 2015
/ref> Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik
The Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik ("German Record Critics' Award") was established in Germany in 1963 by publisher Richard Kaselowsky with the aim of setting the "most rigorous standards for supreme achievement and quality" in the field ...
)
* Michael Wollny with Christian Weber and Eric Schaefer: ''Nachtfahrten'' (2015) (2015: Gold, Deutschland, Jazz Award)
* Michael Wollny Trio in Concert: Klangspuren
Klangspuren, also Klangspuren Schwaz, subtitled Tiroler Festival für Neue Musik, is an annual festival for contemporary music in Schwaz in Tyrol, founded in 1994. The title literally translates to "traces of sound". It commissioned around 200 or ...
(2016)
* Michael Wollny & Vincent Peirani
Vincent Peirani (born 24 April 1980) is a French jazz accordionist, vocalist and composer who has played internationally, collaborating with Denis Colin, François Jeanneau, Youn Sun Nah, Émile Parisien, Michel Portal, Louis Sclavis, and Micha ...
: ''Tandem'' (2016)
* Michael Wollny Trio feat. The Norwegian Wind Ensemble and Geir Lysne
Geir Øystein Lysne (born 9 October 1965 in Trondheim, Norway) is a Norwegian jazz musician (saxophone, flute, composer, arranger) and a famous Big Band leader.
Career
Geir Lysne is a Norwegian conductor, composer, produser and teacher, educate ...
: ''Oslo'' (2018)
* Michael Wollny Trio: ''Wartburg'' (2018)
* Michael Wollny: ''Mondenkind'' (2020)
* Michael Wollny with Emile Parisien, Tim Lefebvre & Christian Lillinger: ''XXXX'' (2021)
References
External links
Official website
*
*
Michael Wollny
at All About Jazz
''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...
Profile
at www.thejazzman.com
Michael Wollny / Biografie
(in German) ACT
Wollny / Kruse / Schaefer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wollny, Michael
German jazz pianists
German jazz composers
Male jazz composers
ACT Music artists
Academic staff of the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig
People from Schweinfurt
1978 births
Living people
German male pianists
21st-century pianists
21st-century German male musicians