CURRICULUM VITAE Musical Education General

CURRICULUM VITAE Musical Education General

CURRICULUM VITAE
Reiner Witzel
An Sankt Swidbert 7, 40489 Düsseldorf. Germany
Tel . +49-211/20 08 871
Fax +49-211/20 08 872
Mobil +49-172/65 61 757
E-Mail: mail@reiner-witzel.de
www.reiner-witzel.de
Date and Place of Birth: June 21, 1967 in Mannheim, Germany
Civil State:
married, two children (born in 2000 and 2002)
Nationality:
German
Musical Education
1973-76
Musical Pre-School Education, Clara Schumann Music School, Düsseldorf
1976-1981 Lessons in French Horn, Clara Schumann Music School, Düsseldorf
1978-86
Member of the Youth Wind Orchestra and Big Band,
Clara Schumann Music School, Düsseldorf, (1st alto saxophone)
as well as member of the Jazz-Workshop of the same school
Since 1980 Autodidactic Studies of the Piano
1981-82
Clarinet Lessons, Clara Schumann Music School, Düsseldorf
1982-86
Saxophone lessons, Clara Schumann Music School, Düsseldorf
1988-90
Cologne University of Music, Studies in Saxophone (Prof. W. Engstfeld)
1990-92
Manhattan School of Music, New York, Studies in Saxophone
Degree awarded: Bachelor of Music (1992)
Musical Lessons with the following teachers:
Saxophone Bob Mintzer, John Purcell, Dave Liebman, Bill Evans, Dick Oats, Steve Slagle,
Gary Smulyan and Wolfgang Engstfeld
Flute
Norbert Rodenkirchen, Linda Chesis
Clarinet
Claudio Puntin
Piano
Garry Dial
General Education
1973-77
Elementary School Rolandstraße, Düsseldorf
1977-86
Middle- and High School: Clara Schumann Gymnasium (later re-named Georg
Büchner Gymnasium), Düsseldorf, German Baccalaureat (1986)
1986-88
Social Year, School for Students with Impaired Eye-Sight, Düsseldorf-Hassels.
as well as other social work
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PROFESSIONAL CAREER
Artistic Career
Since 1988 Free-lance Musician and Composer for Jazz, Pop, Rock and World Music
Concerts
with Rahid Ali, Amaruvision, ARD-Showband, Bantu, Till Brönner, Federal Jazz Orchestra,
Big Band Convention, Jeff Cascaro, Roger Cicero, Cologne Saxophone Quintett, Dariush,
Defunkt, Leon Delray, Garry Dial, John Eardley, Philipp van Endert, Gil Evans Orchestra,
Xaver Fischer, Funk Alliance, Fred Kellner, Giant Step, Marla Glen, Interjazz, Fela Kuti,
Femi Kuti, State Jazz Orchestra of North-Rhine Westphalia, Udo Lindenberg, Simon
Nabatov, Naked Sun, Lessa Naumann, Oriental Connection, Charlie Persip Big Band,
Lonnie Plaxico, Point Blanc, Stefan Raab, Katja Riemann, Harald Schmidt Show, Etta
Scollo, SES, Arkady Shilklopper, Alex Sipiagin, Lew Soloff, Kristi Stassinopoulou, Talking
Horns,Torch, Trovaci, Turlitawa Shutka, Bill Ware, and many others
Since 1988 Concerts with "Reiner Witzel Group" and "Witzel’s Venue"
Concert Tours to Japan , Africa , North and Latin-America , the
Middle East , Russia , Dubai , Bahrain, and most European Countries
Numerous Performances in Festivals, including the Montreux-Jazz Festival, Black SeaFestival, Leverkusen Jazz Days, Viersen Jazz Days, BAM Festival Barcelona
Compositions
Composition of the Title Music for the WDR TV-Series “Westart“, “Auf Ihrer Seite“,
“Rundum gesund“, “Tag Sieben“ and “Wunderschöne Regionen“
Title Music for the TV-Broadcast of the World Youth Day and Visit of Pope Benedikt XVI to
Cologne, 2005
Complete Audio design for the TV Station „1Festival“
Title Song for “Club of Budapest“and “Cirque Bouffon“
Approx. 50 Compositions, published on various CDs
Discography (Extract)
Reiner Witzel Group
Reiner Witzel Group
Witzel`s Venue
Interjazz
Point Blanc
Hipsters in the Zone
Philipp van Endert Group
Philipp van Endert
Alexandra Naumann
Infinite Voyage
Passage to the Ear
Perceptions
From Moscow to Paris
Point Blanc
Into the Afro-Latin Bag
Urban Lyrical
Philipp van Endert
Missa
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(JAZZ/LC8301)
(JAZZ/LC7849)
(JAZZ/LC6533)
(JAZZ/LC08166)
(JAZZ/LC7005)
(JAZZ/LC7849)
(JAZZ/LC01705)
(JAZZ/LC1998)
(JAZZ/LC04780)
Alexandra Naumann
Engel auf Feldern
(JAZZ/LC08765)
Regina Litvinova
German Body
(JAZZ/LC09076)
Regina Litvinova
Grizzlies
(JAZZ/LC11171)
Bonobo Club
Bonobo Club
(JAZZ/LC8166)
Christian Scheuber
Clara`s Smile
(JAZZ/LC01221)
Bundesjazzorchester
Vol.2
(JAZZ/LC0761)
SES
Helecan
(WORLD MUSIC/LC5955)
TAN
Yar Diye Diye
(WORLD MUSIC/LC03592)
Kristi Stassinopoulou
Taxidoscopio
(WORLD MUSIC/LC01623)
Bantu
Fuji Satisfaction
(WORLD MUSIC/LC07717)
Bantu
Bantu
(WORLD MUSIC/LC00475)
Fresh Familee
Wir sind da
(POP/LC0268)
Sasha
You
(POP/LC04281)
Heinz Rudolf Kunze
Halt
(POP/LC04281)
E-Zee Band
Swingin’
(POP/LC1155)
The Sookie Allstars
Soul is the preacher
(SOUL/LC7667)
Fury in the Slaughterhouse
Nowhere..Fast
(POP/LC???)
Defunkt
Live at the Knitting Factory ( FUNK/LC8144)
Zur Schule... aber sicher
(KINDERLIEDER/LC2034)
As well as various Compilations, including Blue Moves, Brazilektro
Instruments (in order of relevance in my artistic career)
Saxophones: Alto, Tenor, Baritone, Soprano, Sopranino, c-melody
Flute, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet
Piano
Theatre
Since 1998 Stage Musician: Gigs at the „Theater an der Ruhr“, Cologne Music
Theatre and musicals such as Starlight Express, Saturday Night Fever, Miami
Nights, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Kiss me Kate
1998-1999 Main Character in the Musical „Der Zauberwald“
1994-2001 Musical Adaptation and Performance of Texts by Georg Trakl and Valere
Novarina with the „Theatre Impossible“
2004
Cologne Musical Theatre: Musical Director and Improvisation Coach for
„Die Kammer der Andacht“
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Awards
1984/85
2nd Place in “Jugend Jazzt“ (“Youth plays Jazz”)
1988
Award Winner „WDR Stadtmusik“ (WDR City Music) with the band „Backyard
Moon“
1990
Scholarship awarded by the State Ministry of Education and Culture of NorthRhine-Westphalia for Musical Studies in New York
2000
2nd Place, “Hennessy Jazz Search“ with “Witzel`s Venue“
Nomination for the Theatre Award of the City of Cologne
Award for the Promotion of Music and Art (Förderpreis) of the City of
Düsseldorf
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
1997/1999 Workshops on Improvisation at the Felix Mendelssohn College of Music and
Theatre, Leipzig
Since 2002 Lecturer for Saxophone at the Frankfurt College of Music and Performing Arts
in the Post-Graduate Course for Jazz and Popular Music as well as Music
Education
Since 2002 Regular Workshops on Reeds and Mouthpieces in Cooperation with the
French Mouthpiece and Reed Manufacturer Vandoren at various Colleges of
Music such as Cologne, Dresden, Leipzig and Weimar
2005
Improvisation Coach for Musical Theatre Cologne (Musiktheater Köln)
2006
Visiting Professor for the State Youth Jazz Orchestra, Brandenburg
2007
Visiting Professor, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz
ongoing
Private Tutor for Saxophone, Flute and Piano
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