Laurens Patzlaff
Laurens Patzlaff is both a Classical and Jazz pianist gifted with the unique ability to improvise in every style. The Classics and improvisation have rarely intermixed, and Laurens is devoted to promoting and popularizing this fascinating musical duo.
Appointed at Lübeck University of Music in 2013 as Germany’s first ever Professor for Piano and Improvisation (Jazz and Classical), Laurens has also taught improvisation (since 2007) at the Stuttgart State University for Music and Performing Arts as well as at universities in Freiburg and Trossingen. He regularly hosts master classes at universities in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia, Hong Kong, Beijing and other cities around the world, and has taught at American universities New York City, Richmond, Virginia, Greensboro, NC, and elsewhere.
Laurens dazzles audiences with his musicianship while opening their eyes and ears to the unlimited capacity for variation in even the most formal of musical genres, offering a fresh perspective on music with a range of styles few if any can imagine.
In addition to international solo engagements, he plays in jazz bands and is also an accomplished chamber musician. He has worked with the Stuttgart State Orchestra and the Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester and numerous other orchestras. A busy programme of concert appearances has taken this multi-award-winning pianist to numerous European destinations, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Portugal, and, most recently, New Zealand. He regularly performs in China, the U.S.A. and Australia. Many of his performances have been broadcast on the radio.
In November 2012 he released his much acclaimed debut album “Reflections on Debussy,” touted by the Freie Presse as “One of the most exciting contributions to the Debussy year 2012.” His second album, “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” was released in 2015.
Born in 1981, Laurens Patzlaff studied piano at the State University of Music and the Performing Arts Stuttgart under Professor Friedemann Rieger and at the Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid under Professor Uta Weyand. He has also studied jazz and popular music at the State University of Music and the Performing Arts.