Christoph Schiller | 1963 | Stuttgart | Germany

spinett, piano

1994: "Mundraub", Marianne Schuppe, voice, Christoph Schiller, piano
hybrid music productions, Gießen

2005: "Savagnières", Peter Baumgartner, powerbook, Christoph Schiller, spinett
creative sources, Lisboa 2005

After several years of piano lessons as a child he first studied fine arts in Stuttgart and Hamburg. With this background and initially inspired by free jazz as well as new music he played concerts with improvised music as pianist since 1987. From 1995-99 he studied piano with Daniel Cholette and music theory in Basel. By this time he also intensified his activities as a composer. Most of his compositions since 1997 are written for voices. Since 1999 he's leading the improvising vocal ensemble "Millefleurs". As a pianist he plays f.e. with "Babels Besen" (Margarete Huber, Markus Wettstein, Hans-Jürg Meier, Christoph Schiller). Since 2002 he explores the possibilities of the spinett, and uses it more and more in improvised music, f.e. in the duo with Peter Baumgartner or a trio with Harald Kimmig and Johannes Frisch. Christoph Schiller is co-organizer of the "Festival für improvisierte und komponierte zeitgenössische Musik" in Basel. He lives in Weil am Rhein and Basel.