Simone Keller (born 23 March 1980) 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 ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

. Simone Keller, a classical pianist by training but with a transversal and interdisciplinary outlook, was born in

Weinfelden Weinfelden is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. It is the capital of the district of the same name. Weinfelden is an old town, which was known during Ancient Rome, Roma ...

, in the canton of Thurgau, in 1980. As an artist and performer, she feels at home in contemporary music, musical theatre, improvisation, and in experimental and participatory formats. A tireless initiator of musical projects, her ensembles are true frameworks for the exploration of contemporary sound: th
Kukuruz Quartet
(which researches in spectacular fashion the potential of prepared pianos played by eight hands), the

TZARA Tristan Tzara (; ; born Samuel or Samy Rosenstock, also known as S. Samyro; – 25 December 1963) was a Romanian and French avant-garde poet, essayist and performance artist. Also active as a journalist, playwright, literary and art critic, comp ...

Ensemble (which works between contemporary music and mediation) and the Retro Disco trio (with horn, cello and synthesisers). As a guest performer, Simone Keller has played regularly with ensembles such as the Musikkollegium Winterthur, the Southwest German Philharmonic, and the Collegium Novum Zurich. She has collaborated with renowned conductors like

Peter Rundel Peter Rundel (born 1958 in Friedrichshafen), is a German violinist and conductor. A recipient of the Grand Prix du Disque in 1998 for his recording of Jean Barraqué's complete works, he became conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Flan ...

Jac van Steen Jac van Steen (born 1956 in Eindhoven) is a Dutch conductor. He studied music theory, as well as orchestral and choral conducting, at the . In the Netherlands, van Steen was conductor and music director of the Nijmegen Bach Choir from 1986 to 199 ...

Pablo Heras-Casado Pablo Heras-Casado (born 1977) is a Spanish conductor. Early life The son of a retired police officer, he began singing with a school choir at the age of seven and piano lessons at the age of nine. He studied music at the conservatory in Grana ...

, and others. Keller has also recorded various works, including Ustwolskaja's Piano Sonatas for the Böhlau-Verlag Wien and collaborated with institutions like the SWR Experimental Studio. Additionally, she has a significant presence as a theater musician, participating in numerous productions at theaters like the

Theater Basel Theater Basel is the municipal theatre of the city of Basel, Switzerland, which is home to the city's opera and ballet companies. The theatre also presents plays and musicals in addition to operas and operettas. Because the theatre does not ha ...

and

Schauspielhaus Zurich ''Playhouse'' (german: Schauspielhaus) is a common term for a theatre. Specifically it may refer to: Venues Australia * Dunstan Playhouse, at the Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide, South Australia * The Playhouse, at the Arts Centre Melbourne, ...

. Since 2014, Simone Keller has co-directed the production compan
ox&öl
with the directo
Philip Bartels
The company conducts participatory projects at the Zurich Tonhalle and develops interdisciplinary music theater productions, including collaborations with individuals with cognitive impairments. ox&öl received recognition from the Department of Culture of the Canton of Zurich in 2017 for its cultural inclusion work and was nominated for the "Junge Ohren Preis" in Frankfurt in the same year. Simone Keller has been invited to various international institutions, including the

Cité Internationale des Arts The Cité internationale des arts is an artist-in-residence building complex which accommodates artists of all specialities and nationalities in Paris. It comprises two sites, one located in the Marais and the other in Montmartre. Approximately ...

in Paris in 2016, the

Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics Stanford University has many centers and institutes dedicated to the study of various specific topics. These centers and institutes may be within a department, within a school but across departments, an independent laboratory, institute or center ...

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

in 2017, and in 2019, invitations from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory in New York City. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition, as well as a bachelor's in mu ...

in New York, and

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

in Providence/Boston. In 2018, Keller's recording of

Julius Eastman Julius Eastman (October 27, 1940 – May 28, 1990) was an American composer, pianist, vocalist, and performance artist whose work is associated with musical minimalism. He was among the first composers to combine minimalist processes with elements ...

's piano music, released b
Intakt Records
wit
Kukuruz Quartet
received critical acclaim and appeared on several best-of lists, including being recognized as one of the "Best classical albums" by the

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

and "Album of the year 2018" by

The New York City Jazz Record ''The New York City Jazz Record'' is a monthly New York City based publication that includes features, reviews and concert announcements regarding jazz music. It is available in print form (black and white hardcopy) as well as online at www.nycjazz ...

s. She was also nominated for the international innovation award by Classical:NEXT in 2019. In the same year, she received both the IBK Prize and the IBK Sponsorship Prize from the youth jury. Simone Keller is the recipient of the Conrad Ferdinand Meyer Prize in 2021. In 2022, she was honored with both th
Swiss Music Prize
and the Thurgauer Culture Prize. Simone Keller's 2024 publicatio
Jungle Books
/

Intakt Records Intakt Records is an independent record label, based in Zürich. History The label was founded in 1986 by Patrik Landolt.Margasak, Peter (September 2013) "Intakt's Landolt Takes Long-Term Approach to Avant-Garde". ''Down Beat''. p. 16. In the ea ...

) highlights the overlooked brilliance of marginalized composers, especially women and minorities, and explores themes of social inequality and unequal power relations through piano music and a collection of diverse essays.

References

External links

*homepage
Swiss Music Prize 2022YoutubeWhen passion turns into subversion
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keller, Simone 1980 births Living people Swiss pianists Swiss male musicians Swiss women pianists 21st-century pianists 21st-century male musicians 21st-century women pianists