Rudi Wilfer

Rudi Wilfer (born September 14, 1936 in Salzburg ) is an Austrian pianist and composer .

Life

Rudi Wilfer first studied trumpet and piano at the Academy for Music and Performing Arts Vienna , on which he finally concentrated. Studies of composition and typesetting at the Vienna Conservatory followed .

He played in the ensembles of Uzzi Förster , Fatty George , Erich Kleinschuster , Clifford Jordan and Friedrich Gulda , with whom he had a lifelong friendship.

Rudi Wilfer began his musical career in Vienna in the fifties in the band of clarinetist Fatty George as the successor to pianist Joe Zawinul when he went to New York to build his career in the USA. Its jazz club "Fatty's Saloon" was also visited by stars of the international jazz scene.

In the sixties, the "Rudi Wilfer Trio" was founded together with - with changing line-up - the drummers Michael Honzak and Rudi Staeger as well as the bassists Aladár Pege and Josef Nemeth . During this time numerous record productions were made, including many own compositions, with the Austrian radio, which were also often played in the still young program of Ö3.

The highlights of his career included Rudi Wilfer's membership in the Leo Wright and Carmell Jones Quintet in Berlin in 1970, as well as his work as a companion for international jazz greats such as Slide Hampton (trombone), Billy Mitchell , Harold Jones (drums), and Art Farmer (Trumpet) and others. Even Oliver Nelson (arranger and saxophonist) took Rudi Wilfer in his "Berlin Dream Band".

In 1973 Rudi Wilfer won first prize at the international jazz theme competition “Concours international de composition de theme de jazz” in Monaco with the composition “For Joe”, dedicated to his friend Joe Zawinul. This was followed by further radio and TV productions and international tours with established US jazz greats such as tenor saxophonists Bud Freeman and Eddie Lockjaw Davis . During his first stay in the USA in 1979, he also met the pianist Bill Evans , whom he admired .

In 1981, Rudi Wilfer went public with his first large sacred composition, the “Sankt Michaeler Messe”, which was premiered in Vienna's Don Bosco Church under the direction of Erwin Ortner with the Arnold Schönberg Choir and the Radio Orchestra. In 1982 the first performance of the organ concert “Tropfsteine” in St. Augustin in Vienna followed. In 1983 his composition “Sing for Peace” was premiered in the Salzburg Festival Hall. A year later, in 1984, he began composing the opera “Christian”. The world premiere of another great work, the “Lungauer Blues Messe”, was conducted by Rudi Wilfer at the 3rd Salzburg Jazz Autumn 1998 in the Kollegienkirche. On the occasion of the death of his friend Joe Zawinul, Wilfer composed the “Requiem for Joe Zawinul” in his honor, which premiered in 2009 has been.

In 1982 Rudi Wilfer became professor for jazz piano and improvisation at the Vienna Conservatory.

Rudi Wilfer gave concerts in Austria with the American trumpeter Lee Harper , the guitarists Harri Stojka and Karl Ratzer , the Hungarian bass virtuoso Aladár Pege and the saxophonist Carl Drewo , with whom he also recorded numerous albums.

In 2007 Rudi Wilfer recorded his CD "Alone". Since the 2000s he has performed frequently with his son, the violinist Felix Wilfer. So in 2010 in the USA. Numerous compositions were written for this chamber music ensemble over the next few years. In 2013 the CD “wilfer & wilfer live in the Odeion” was recorded.

Honors

• For his services to the arts, he was honored on September 17, 2001 with the Golden Medal of Merit of the State of Salzburg.
• In 2008 he was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art.

Web links

• Web presence of Rudi Wilfer and Felix Wilfer

Notes and individual references

1. ↑ Discogs: Entry about the Rudi Wilfer Trio, accessed on July 27, 2019.