Simone Keller (born 23 March 1980) is a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

. 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 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, Jac van Steen,

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 Granad ...

, 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 and Schauspielhaus Zurich. 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 Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in 2017, and in 2019, invitations from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music a ...

in New York, and

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

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

Julius Eastman Julius Eastman (October 27, 1940 – May 28, 1990) was an American composer. He was among the first composers to combine the processes of some minimalist music with other methods of extending and modifying his music as in some experimental music. ...

'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,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

and "Album of the year 2018" by

The New York City Jazz Record ''The New York City Jazz Record'' is a New York City based monthly free newspaper about 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 ...

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) 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 male musicians 21st-century Swiss male musicians 21st-century Swiss women pianists 21st-century Swiss pianists