Mathias Rüegg

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Mathias Rüegg (born December 8, 1952 in Zurich ) is a Swiss jazz musician (pianist, composer, arranger and band leader). According to the author and critic Robert Fischer , he is “a border crosser” who “speaks both languages, classical and jazz”; a "juggler of music history" who has managed to "survive the genius of the early years and develop a mastery that is second to none."

Live and act

Rüegg first became a teacher and taught at special schools before he decided to become a musician at the age of 21. He also studied classical composition and jazz piano at the University of Music in Graz . At the age of 24 he went to Vienna to earn a living as a pianist in nightclubs . In 1977 he founded the Vienna Art Orchestra (initially as the Vienna Art Orchestra ) with the support of Wolfgang Puschnig . In 1983 he also founded the Vienna Art Choir.

On July 9, 2010, he dissolved the Vienna Art Orchestra due to financial difficulties after a last concert in Viktring / Klagenfurt. Among other things, six Mahler songs that he had arranged were presented there. His new area of ​​activity is composing chamber music , which is published by the Wiener Musikverlag Doblinger. In addition, he teaches for one day per semester week at the IPOP ( University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna ).

Rüegg led the ensemble for over 30 years and wrote all of the original compositions that the orchestra has played in public so far. In addition, he designed stage and film music , worked closely with the theater maker George Tabori , but also with Ernst Jandl in jazz & poetry productions (in which Lauren Newton and Wolfgang Puschnig were also involved). He has also written works for other big bands , but also for ensembles in the classical sector such as the Wiener Symphoniker or the Basel Sinfonietta . A good 10 years ago he began to increasingly write chamber music (e.g. for Michel Portal , Corin Curschellas or Wolfgang Muthspiel, solo concerts with a chamber orchestra, but also compositions for various classical ensembles). In 2011, Paladino Music released Rüegg's first CD chamber music tenminusnine, dedicated exclusively to his chamber music work .

In 1993 Rüegg initiated the founding of the Viennese jazz club Porgy & Bess , of which he was director for many years. In 2003 he was (together with Bill Frisell ) musical director of the Century of Song festival . In 1996 Rüegg founded the Austrian Music Office (AMO) association, which also organized and presented the Hans Koller Prize . This important award was named after the Austrian jazz saxophonist Hans Koller , who died in 2003 . After the funding of the award was no longer secured, Rüegg put the award-organizing committee's activities on hold in April 2010.

In 2011 Rüegg composed the music for the new Big Apple Circus show in New York.

In 2013, Rüegg was the initiator, arranger and - for the first time in a long time, also as a pianist involved in the recordings and in live concerts - mastermind of Lia Pale's debut album Gone Too Far , a modern interpretation of Schubert's Winterreise ; Rüegg had already arranged two of the pieces for the Big Apple Circus show in New York and asked Lia Pale to record them with him. This is how the contact came about, from which a longer collaboration developed in the 2010s, which also led to further albums together. In 2016 he also composed with Alban Darche and Jean-Christophe Cholet Le Tombeau de Poulenc for big band and two pianists (album 2017 on Yolkmusic ).

Prizes and awards

Between 1984 and 1986, the Down Beat Critics' poll named him the best arranger every year. He has also received several record awards, in 1993 the Prix Bobby Jaspar of the Académie francaise du Jazz and in 1999 the Grand Prix of SUISA . In 2001 he was awarded the Austrian Music Prize, and in 2009 the City of Vienna Music Prize .

Lexical entries

Movies

  • Big Band Poetry (Director: Stefan Schwietert; Switzerland 2007)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Cf. Robert Fischer : Anything goes. In: All that Jazz. The story of a music. Reclam publishing house, Stuttgart. 3rd, expanded and updated edition 2007, pp. 434–435
  2. ↑ Austrian Music Office: About the prize ( Memento of the original dated December 3, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed March 28, 2010 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.hanskollerpreis.at
  3. ↑ Andreas Felber: "We want a house", in FALTER 48/11 ( Memento of the original from February 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed October 25, 2012 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.falter.at
  4. ↑ http://www.swissfilms.ch/de/film_search/filmdetails/-/id_film/2146535224
personal data
SURNAME Rüegg, Mathias
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss composer, jazz pianist and big band leader
DATE OF BIRTH December 8, 1952
PLACE OF BIRTH Zurich