Stephan König
Stephan König (born 4 October 1963) is a German composer, pianist and conductor. He is the musical director of the "LeipJAZZig-Orkester" and the chamber orchestra "artentfaltung" and is considered one of the most authoritative Jazz musicians in Leipzig. Life. König was born in Berlin in 1963. After six years of music school lessons in Magdeburg, König was a pupil at the Spezialschule für Musik in Halle from 1974 to 1980. In 1980, he began studying at the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig, majoring in conducting (Olaf Koch and Christian Kluttig), piano (Wolfram Merkel) and composition (Peter  Herrmann) and graduated in 1986 in all three subjects. He then completed additional studies in composition at the same university until 1988. Since the same year, he has held a teaching position at the university. In the field of jazz/popular music he currently teaches jazz piano and piano. In 1985, he made a guest appearance as harpsichordist of the Halle Opera House in Poland. In 1986, he was a founding member of the Leipzig Jazz Theatre, of which he was musical director for two years. In 1987, the pianist founded the König Trio together with Thomas Moritz (double bass ) and Jörg Steffens (drums). After changing line-ups (among others with Stephan "Grete" Weiser, Tom Götze, Wolfram Dix, Frank-Endrik Moll), he currently plays with Thomas Stahr (double bass) and Wieland Götze (drums). The trio performed among others at the Vilnius Jazz Festival (1988) and at the Sibiu Jazz Festival (1990). In 2010, he formed a jazz quartet, which also includes Reiko Brockelt (saxophone). This ensemble covers a range between classical and jazz. In 2018, they played a jazz version of the "Christmas Oratorio" in the Herkulessaal in Munich. In duo, König appeared with Fermín Villanueva (violoncello). In 1995, he  was one of the initiators of the gast-art series at the , which he supervised as artistic director. In 1996, he co-initiated the LeipJAZZig event series at Leipzig's Nikolaischule. In 1997, he became a board member of the Initiative Leipziger Jazzmusiker. In 1998, he founded the LeipJAZZig Orchestra, which he leads and to which fourteen jazz soloists belong. It has performed among others at the Leipziger Jazztage (1999, 2006), the (2006), the Nanjing Jazz Festival (2007) and the (2010). In 2017, it played in the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. Jürgen Wölfer compared the group to the Vienna Art Orchestra . Bert Noglik describes the LeipJAZZig-Orkester as a "Kultband". From 1999 to 2008, he was artistic director of JazzKosmos. In 2007, the chamber orchestra "artentfaltung" was founded by him and the painter and graphic artist Christl Maria Göthner, of which he is artistic director. From 2008 to 2014, he was a permanent pianist in the Figaro Radio or Figaro Reading Café on MDR Figaro. In the 2010s, he repeatedly played the piano and keyboard with the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra. Furthermore, he worked among others with Nigel Kennedy, Lyambiko, Florian Poser and the Ensemble Amarcord. Guest contracts exist with  various orchestras and stages. Concert tours have taken him at home and abroad. König has been involved in several CD, radio and television productions. His œuvre includes orchestral, chamber and vocal music, jazz as well as music theatre and drama. He has received commissions among others by the Gewandhaus, the Leipzig Opera, the Akademisches Orchester Leipzig, the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk and the Thomanerchor Leipzig. König was responsible for numerous arrangements, for example his version for voice and string quartet of the song cycle "The Juliet Letters" (by Elvis Costello) was premiered in 2009 by Ines Agnes Krautwurst and the Leipzig String  Quartet. Three times a year, the Augustinian Association of the Gymnasium St. Augustine in Grimma organises the "Augustinian Concerts", for which König is musically responsible. In the 32nd series of the Augustinian Concerts, König performed the programme "Herzenslieder" with Uschi Brüning on 14 September 2018, which he prepared together with the singer. Hagen Kunze and Peter Korfmacher called König the "Jazz-Guru" of Leipzig.