Clemens Christian Poetzsch
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About
As a child in Dresden, Germany, Clemens Christian Poetzsch received his first piano lessons from his opera singer grandfather and was soon immersed in the world of Bach, Schubert, and Clementi. But aged ten, a sheet music book of Frank Sinatra standards gifted to him by his father opened his ears to wider musical possibilities, and he was soon playing sing-along classics in the bar next door to his house. It was at that establishment, sitting at a piano which stood next to the kitchen, that Poetzsch first started improvising and messing around with song structures. The knack was developed out of necessity, since every time a waiter would enter or leave through the swinging doors his music sheets would fly and he’d find himself having to go without. Such formative experiences stayed with Poetzsch through his classical training at the Conservatory of Music in Dresden. While studying piano and composition, his spare time was spent playing in jazz and free improvisation bands with friends and colleagues – he gigged, toured, discovered electronic music, and soaked up as much knowledge as he could. And so, what started out as mere fun and a desire to seek out “environments where I could surprise myself” started to inform his music more and more. With his former band, MASAA Poetzsch has released three albums to date and toured Africa, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey on behalf of the Goethe Institute. In addition to his solo work, he has composed music for film and ballet productions and has appeared on stage with Sven Helbig, Till Brönner and the Dogma Chamber Orchestra. Poetzsch’s approach to experimentation, as with collaboration, is to dive in and see what works, to discover through trial and error, and his last two albums, „The Soul of Things“ and „Remember Tomorrow“, celebrated the fleeting and ineffable moments that guided his creativity, from a mundane object to a sudden déjà-vu. Now, Poetzsch releases „Chasing Heisenberg“, the third and final album of this trilogy, and a full embrace of the random sparks of beauty that inspire him. „Chasing Heisenberg“ was nominated in three categories for the OPUS KLASSIK music award in 2023.
Press
“Clemens Christian Poetzsch ist eine Piano-Entdeckung.”
– Freie Presse
“Subtle and refined, it’s one degree of separation from Richter, two from Glass, three from Satie; beautiful music, beautifully played.”
– Sam Cleeve, Drowned in Sound
“Die sich anbietenden Vergleiche bleiben die der ersten Klasse. Es lohnt sich.”
– Dresdner Neue Nachrichten
“[Die] Langzeitwirkung [seiner Kompositionen] ist außerordentlich und macht das Album [“The Soul of Things”] zu einem Genuss, den nicht nur Genrefreunde noch oft und gern aus dem Pattenschrank ziehen werden.”
– Tim Hoffmann, Freie Presse