Michael Wollny

Wollny took piano and violin lessons at the Musikschule Schweinfurt and at the Hermann Zilcher Conservatory in Würzburg until 1997, successfully competing in the Jugend musiziert. He then studied at the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg with . He took the artistic diploma with distinction in 2002, and the master classes diploma in 2004. He also studied with John Taylor and Walter Norris. == Career ==

From 1998 to 2002, Wollny was a member of the touring . He also played in a quartet led by . Wollny's debut album was recorded with Wolfgang Kriener and Joachim Leyh. Wollny has played with Heinz Sauer from 2001 both as a duo and in a quartet. He was also a member of the trio , with bassist Eva Kruse and percussionist . which made the pop charts. A review in The Guardian noted "They are one of the world's great jazz-driven piano trios, and Nachtfahrten takes nothing away from this assessment." In 2017, he was an artist in residence (Fokus Jazz: Michael Wollny) of the Rheingau Musik Festival, interviewed in a Rendezvous, and playing three concerts, improvising with Marius Neset in the first, with vocalist Andreas Schaerer, Émile Parisien and Vincent Peirani in the second, and finally with his trio and the Norwegian Wind Ensemble. Since 2014 Wollny has lived with his family in Leipzig, where he is a professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Leipzig. == Awards ==

Wollny has been awarded several scholarships and prizes, including the cultural prize of Schweinfurt in 2003, and in 2005 both the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik (for Melancholia with Heinz Sauer) and the Bayerischer Kunstförderpreis. He received the ''Choc de l'annee 2006 from the French magazine Jazzman (for Certain Beauty with Heinz Sauer), the Jazzpreis of the Nürnberger Nachrichten in 2007, and in 2008 the , again with Heinz Sauer. In 2013, Wollny received the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik for his album Don't Explain – Live in Concert'' with Heinz Sauer, and the . The trio received the Echo Jazz as ensemble of the year. In 2015 and 2016 he was again awarded the Echo Jazz. == Discography ==

Recordings with Wollny have included: Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik) • Michael Wollny with Christian Weber and Eric Schaefer: Nachtfahrten (2015) (2015: Gold, Deutschland, Jazz Award) • Michael Wollny Trio in Concert: Klangspuren (2016) • Michael Wollny & Vincent Peirani: Tandem (2016) • Michael Wollny Trio feat. The Norwegian Wind Ensemble and Geir Lysne: Oslo (2018) • Michael Wollny Trio: Wartburg (2018) • Michael Wollny: Mondenkind (2020) • Michael Wollny with Emile Parisien, Tim Lefebvre & Christian Lillinger: XXXX (2021) • Michael Wollny / Joachim Kühn: Duo (2024) == References ==