Title: Live at Pianeo
Artist: derkalavier
Genre: Neoclassical Music

Release: 04.10.2019 (digital + CD)
Label: denkschutz.

A grand piano, lit up on all sides by colored rays of light, stands in the middle of a large church. The rows of church pews, arranged in a circle around the instrument, are filled with people. The Festival for Neoclassical Music is drawing to a close, but tonight curious listeners are again gathering in a special location to lose themselves in the piano music of contemporary composers. The listeners wait expectantly in silence. Almost nobody knows the young pianist who has sat down at the keyboard. He closes his eyes, breathes in, and pauses a moment before hitting the first note.

What follows is the live performance of three pieces from derkalavier’s debut album “Phosphene”. What makes these pieces so special is their method of composition: instead of a fixed progression, the direction of the music follows moods, individual elements, melodies, and harmonies. In this way each performance of the same work turns into something new, not just for the audience, but also for the instrumentalist. Every performance becomes a moving voyage of discovery rather than the lackluster reproduction of something already heard before.

derkalavier is a pianist and producer without genres or boundaries. His multifaceted work encompasses diverse album productions and piano compositions, as well as works for theater, dance, and film. The composer and instrumentalist received 13 years of piano lessons from a jazz pianist and soon began searching for his own path on the instrument, far away from well-trodden paths. It is here, at the piano, that he can be himself completely. Already as a child he enraptured listeners with freely composed pieces for piano that created wondrous pictures in the mind’s eyes of his listeners. Soon he began composing pieces for theater and writing his own works. Later he discovered a love for hop-hop and music production, which led him to study Keyboards and Music Production at the Münster Music Conservatory, where he completed his final exam with distinction. During his studies he was already performing exclusively his own repertoire at festivals and in concerts from Hanoi and Beijing to Berlin. At the same time, he developed a name for himself in the hip-hop scene through collaborations with established producers and rappers.

In 2017, derkalavier released his debut solo piano album “Phosphene” on his own label “denkschutz”. The insightful and sensitive compositions and improvisations strike a chord with young and old genre-transcending listeners alike. His live performances enthrall audiences through a mixture of his well-versed presence, relaxed open-mindedness, and honest, meditative calm. His pieces for piano go straight to the heart and invite listeners to close their eyes and let their spirit float freely.