About
| * 15 March 1994, Miass (Russia) | |
| 2013 – 2015 | Guitar at Jazzschool Munich |
| 2015 – 2017 | Elementary Music Pedagogy at LMC — University of Augsburg |
| 2017 – 2018 | Pedagogical Additional Year at Jazzschool Munich |
| 2018 – 2020 | Teaching Guitar and Harmony at Jazzschool Munich |
| 2020 – 2024 | Computer Science B.Sc. at University of Augsburg |
Music
Most of my musical projects originate from a passion for improvised music. It started when, in my later school years, I first heard the music of John Coltrane, whom I now consider one of my greatest sources of inspiration. At that time I was playing in a few bands where we mostly played jazz standards and some original pieces. Among the most rewarding experiences during those early attempts were the endless improvisations over a single harmony—an element typically found in modal jazz.
After school, I studied the guitar at the Jazzschool Munich, where I received guitar lessons from Alexander Jung and Bernd Hess. There I also attended the history lessons of Dr. Stephan Richter, who introduced me to free, non-idiomatic improvisation. This is to me a truly adventurous approach to music, and I have been dedicated to expanding my possibilities in that field ever since. In my second year at the Jazzschool I had the chance to receive flute lessons from Alexander von Hagke. Now, flute has become an instrument that I really enjoy playing.
At university, I received classical guitar lessons from Takeo Sato. While I never had the ambition to become a professional classical guitarist, those lessons had a great impact on my playing and my understanding of music. After two years, I quit my studies at the university and returned to the Jazzschool for another year. However, in the last semester before I quit, I had the opportunity to record and perform Steve Reich's Electric Counterpoint. It is a beautiful piece of minimal music with a 14-part playback recorded in advance and a solo part played on top of that. The playback consists of a rhythmically dense texture that slowly evolves, responding to or anticipating the soloist's motives. Practicing the solo part was a challenging and contemplative process.
The idea of creating a dense and at times repetitive background to accompany a solo guitar became essential for my current project. It is an attempt to combine electronic ambient music with free, atonal improvisation. To get a taste of it, visit my bandcamp page. My previous recordings include a vernissage concert with a free jazz quartet and a classical guitar duo with my friend Fridolin Krön.
Coding
Two years after I had finished the Jazzschool I returned to the University of Augsburg, this time to study computer science with a minor in philosophy. Learning to code opened up new possibilities for my musical projects. My first music-related programming project was a looping web app called Loopinsky. It allows recording an audio track, cutting it to the number of measures needed, and infinitely repeating it. The next project was an algorithm that I developed out of theoretical curiosity. Long before I thought of studying computer science, I was trying to create some sort of catalog of musical scales. The goal was to list all theoretically possible scales within a given range, regardless of their aesthetic qualities. Trying to achieve this by hand on a sheet of paper turned out to be a tedious effort. So I developed an algorithm to do that. If, for example, you're interested to know how many 7-note scales—like the major scale—there are: it's 66, but only four of them are commonly used.
Another coding project was my attempt to develop a digital modular synthesizer. Following the paradigm of generative music, it has a somewhat peculiar workflow: a configuration is developed in advance and remains fixed throughout the performance. So you can't really play the synthesizer but configure it to generate the music you want. This is the main instrument I use to create the background soundscapes for my solo performances. Working on it is an interesting process that teaches me a lot about digital signal processing and audio synthesis. The project is open-source and available on github.
Teaching
My studies of elementary music pedagogy at the LMC as well as my third year at the Jazzschool focused on music education. What I appreciate about elementary music pedagogy is its emphasis on exploration and improvisation. From the very beginning, the students are encouraged to play freely with different musical elements. This approach fosters improvisational skills, and it improves a student's understanding of music as she approaches the material from a composer's perspective. In my lessons, I use exploration as a means to practice things like scales, chords, rhythm, technique, etc. Exploration, in this context, is a form of improvisation but without an artistic ambition. Its purpose is to take away the fear of playing a "wrong" note. Gradually, as the student becomes familiar with the musical material, she develops the ability to spontaneously express musical ideas. This is called improvisation. It is an artistic end in itself and also a tool that I have found useful for composing.
Another important aspect in my teaching is music theory, for it helps us organize the way we think and talk about music. No matter if we improvise or compose, or if we discuss our ideas with fellow musicians, having concepts for the complex structures we encounter in music enables us to handle this complexity without getting overwhelmed. The concepts we deal with are chords and progressions of chords, scales, musical form, etc. Understanding the dynamics of each one of these elements helps us gain a deeper understanding of their interplay. I believe that developing both an intuitive and an analytical understanding of music leads to greater artistic freedom than only focusing on one aspect and neglecting the other. With a good knowledge of music theory and the courage to improvise and compose, I believe a student is well-equipped for the lifelong endeavor of mastering the beautiful art of music.