– Post-classical / Neoklassik Artists
Nils Frahm
Nils Frahm is German composer, multi-instrumentalist and music producer, and the greatest and representative musician in the current Post-classical music scene.
He is multi-instrumentalist, and he have many acoustic, electric and electronic instruments, and own a big studio.
His characteristics is composition deeply influenced by Classical Music and using synthesizers and, electronic instruments, electric instruments and multiple instruments. He covers a wide-ranging genres from Classical piano solo and ensemble, to electronic music or experimental music.
His iconic performance is the improvisational performance by Roland JUNO-60 and Fender Rhodes. Also he is also popular in the Electronic music scene and its club and festival scene.
Max Richter
Max Richter is the representative musician, the leading figure and the pioneer of today’s Post-classical music and the Contemporary Classical scenes. He is German born, British composer, multi-instrumentalist and music producer. He is active from the middle of 90’s, produced and performed various genres and types of music such as studio recording albums, experimental performances, ballet, and many cinema scores and music for television. And a member of the six pianist group, the repertory of the group is Contemporary Classic and Minimal Music, “Piano Circus”.
His characteristics is mixture of the orthodox Classical Music and its way of composition and instruments, and electronic and computer technologies. Especially the string composition with synthesizer pads and sequences, and electronic noises.
Already his compositions were played as “Classical Music” by some pianists.
Ólafur Arnalds
Ólafur Arnalds is one of representative musicians in today’s Post-classical music scene, is from Mosfellsbær, Iceland and now lives in Reykjavík.
Jóhann Jóhannsson
Jóhann Jóhannsson is an Icelandic composer, a pioneer and one of representative musician in today’s Post-classical scene. He produced many solo works and music for cinema, play, dance and television from the beginning of 00’s.
His characteristics is Classical also Icelandic and European taste of composition and harmonie, and the mixture of Classical instruments, sythesizers and electronic technologies.
Hildur Guðnadóttir
Akira Kosemura
Akira Kosemura is a Japanese composer and music producer born in Tokyo. He was debut by a piano featured Electronica album “It’s On Everything” from Australian Label “someone good” in 2007.
He runs his own label SCHOLE.
Many soundtrack and BGM works. In June 2023, he major debut the English famous traditional classical label DECCA.
Carlos Cipa
Carlos Cipa is a Münich based composer-pianist. His piano technique and expression is equal to classical concert pianists. He trained classical piano, played drums on various bands and studied composition at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich. In 2012, he debut by “The Monarch and the Viceroy” from Denovali Records. He was major debut by “Retronyms” from Warner Classics in 2019.
Dustin O’Halloran
Dustin O’Halloran is an American composer-pianist born in 1971. He wrote many film scores and TV soundtracks, released five solo albums. O’Halloran major debuted by an EP “Sundoor” from Deutsche Grammophon in 2019, and release the album “Sifur” in 2021.
A Winged Victory for the Sullen
A Winged Victory for the Sullen is a Post-classical, Ambient and Drone Ambient duo of Dustin O’Halloran and Adam Wiltzie.
Fabrizio Paterlini
Fabrizio Paterlini is an Italian composer and pianist. He was a bass player of a band, then he became an orthodox composer and pianist.
His characteristics is the composition has a melancholic and sorrowful tone (but there’s slight hope and will), and his simple and stable piano playing has a tender echo. It suggests abandoned streets and cities, and wild fields which dried up in Europe.
Henning Schmiedt
Henning Schmiedt is Berlin based composer-pianist, born in 1965. His characteristics is the combination of orthodox piano composing and harmony, piano playing deeply influenced by jazz improvisation and sound and recording approaches of new and digital technologies.
Quentin Sirjacq
Quentin Sirjacq is a French composer, pianist, multi-instrument-player and music producer. He studied He studied piano in earnest and academically at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague (Netherlands). He had been worked with many bands, artists, jazz ensembles, and orchestras, and made many film scores and television BGMs.
Lubomyr Melnyk
Lubomyr Melnyk born in Ukraine 1948, is mystic Ukrainian composer pianist. His characteristics is the hi-tempo, many touches and perfectly precise virtuoso arpeggio technique. It’s like a weave or a torrent of piano. His music is called “Continuous Piano Music”.
Hauschka (Volker Bertelmann)
Volker Bertelmann a.k.a. Hauschka is a German pianist-composer. Hauschka is the alias for his original works. Volker Bertelmann is his real name, and the name for making film scores.
Rachel Grimes
Rachel Grimes is an American pianist and composer. Also she was a member of Post-classical, chamber music and Post-rock ensemble “Rachel’s”.
Joep Beving
Sebastian Plano
Sophie Hutchings
Federico Albanese
Anne Müller
Oskar Schuster
Oskar Schuster is a German composer and artist lives in Berlin. His characteristics is the composing has European fantastic, nostalgic, sweet and melancholic taste, and the mechanical but illusional, pretty and warm arrangement. His music suggests fantasy novels, children’s literature, fantasy tabletop and computer role-playing games and scenery of Europe in medieval times. His musical forms are piano solo, ensemble, Electronica and soundtrack.
Hideyuki Hashimoto
Hideyuki Hashimoto is Japanese pianist composer who lives in a local city, Kagawa. He released his original piano solo pieces played by himself only. His characteristics in his compositions and recordings, is Japanese oriental and calm taste coexist with a stateless apathetic mood. And it in his piano playings, is simple and minimal number of tones and delicate and gentle touches.
Piano Praises
Piano Praises is an anonymous piano solo composer-pianist who write songs for praise and worship God and to tell the benefit by Christianity.
Shida Shahabi
Shida Shahabi is female Iranian root Swedish pianist-composer.
William Haviland
William Haviland is a British pianist and composer. His characteristic is bright and gentle, Classical and orthodox also modern composition, and clear and bright tone piano play.
Nunu
Nunu (Nunu Kiefer) is (must be) an enigmatic female composer-pianist lives in Berlin. She released only two piano solo albums only from Schole, the label run by Japanese composer and music producer Akira Kosemura. Her songs are very simple and minimal, melancholic but pure and very precious. I think her compositions and performances are perpetual treasures in the world. But her information doesn’t exist in the internet or books at all…
Gonzales a.k.a. Chilly Gonzales
Other Post-classical Artists
Rolo Rossi, J. G. Robinson / Dead the Long Year, Ryan Teague, Starling, jazzD, Eluvium, Bruno Bavota
Other
Post-classical Piano Solo Masterpieces (EN)
– New Age & Contemporary
George Winston
George Winston was an American pianist and composer born in 1949. He was a pioneer of the contemporary instrumental music and New Age music.
His musical roots are various. The melodic approach he developed, that is called “rural folk piano”. And he is influenced by stride piano and New Orleans Rhythm and Blues. Besides his music and spirit was inspired by the Doors.
He found and established his unique contemporary piano style (neither Classical nor Jazz, as well as Classical and Jazz) by “Autumn”, “Winter into Spring” and “December” were released by Windham Hill.
His chord progressions, harmonies and backings are basic and usual. But his melodies and emotional piano play style are very unique and only one. Sentimental and walling but gentle and relaxing also serious.
His music, especially the albums “Winter into Spring” and “December”, is the most precious, pure, respectable and sweet music in the world, I think.
Ryuichi Sakamoto
Ryuichi Sakamoto was composer, pianist and music producer from Nakano, Tokyo, Japan. He graduated the master grade of National Tokyo Art University, then he became a session musician. In the activity of the years, he knew Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, then the suggestion by Hosono, they organized the Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). YMO made a big success in Japan and became known to the all around the world. YMO was the pioneer of Synth Pop or Techno Pop equal to Kraftwerk, Devo and Telex. And Sakamoto’s career as the composer begun simultaneously, and his name is known worldwide by sound tracks of “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence” and “The Last Emperor”. And he appeared as an actor on both movies.
In 1987 he moved to New York. He composed vast amount of motion picture soundtracks, and produced many solo and collaboration works. His works had many genres, tastes and styles from Classical Music especially Impressionist Music as Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, Crossover, Avantgarde Music, Techno Pop, Dub, Minimal Music, New Wave, Jazz, Ethnic Music (Gamelan, Okinawa Minyo, and Japanese, Chinese, Korean and African Traditional Music), House Music, Hip Hop, Pop Music (J-Pop), Ambient, Bossa Nova, Electronica, Drone to Post-Classical Music. His characteristics was the mixture of them and was put in shape by his sophisticated Classical method and impressive sense of making melodies. He always had been pursued new and eternal music by his passed away. He worked on many art projects, publishing books, political messages and vast amount of activities in media such as television, radio, magazine, art book, art box and the internet.
Piano Solo & Piano Trio Works
Electronic, New Age & Electronica Works
Motion Picture Soundtrack Works
Ludovico Einaudi
Brian Eno Ambient Works
Roger Eno
Harold Budd
Micheal Nyman
Wim Mertens
Joe Hisaishi
Piano Works
Solo Albums
Mike Oldfield
– Minimal Music
Steve Reich
Philip Glass
– Jazz / Fusion
Pat Metheny Solo & Collaboration Works
Pat Metheny (1954 – ) is American Jazz Fusion guitarist. The characteristics of his guitar play is orthodox also has no blue and smoky tone of Jazz, and the tone is soft and beautiful because he uses almost only front pickup of hollow body Jazz electric guitar. Also his composition has no blue and smoky taste of Jazz, and is wonderful and mystic, which associates the forests, streets, towns and scenes in Southern and Central US.
Pat Metheny Group
The Pat Metheny Group was a Jazz Fusion band founded in 1977 by guitarist Pat Metheny and keyboardist Lyle Mays. Other principal members were bassist Steve Rodny, drummer Paul Wertico and Argentine vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Pedro Aznar. The characteristic of Pat Metheny Group, contrast to Pat Metheny solo works, was the taste of a typical American and 80’s or 90’s Fusion with Latin music elements. But the compositions, the plays, the arrangements and the moods of the works were more sophisticated, elegant and pure than other usual Fusion musicians.
Lyle Mays
Lyle Mays (1953 – 2020) was a Jazz Fusion musician, keyboardist and a core member of the Pat Metheny Group. Equal to Metheny, the musical taste of Mays had no smoky and blue taste of Jazz. It’s wonderful and mystic and was more graceful and calm than Metheny. His characteristics were the elegant and smooth piano play, the iconic lyrical lead tone like flute or pan flute by Roland JX-10 synthesizer and his composition had wonderful and refreshing mood.
Paul Winter & Paul Winter Consort
Ralph Towner
Solo Jazz Piano Albums
Thelonious Monk, Lennie Tristano, Bill Evans, John Coates Jr.
– Electronic Music / Synth Pop / Krautrock
Jean-Michel Jarre
– Electronica
Manual
Manual is an alias or a project of a music producer Jonas Munk Jensen from Odense, Denmark.
Green-House
Green-House is the project of Los Angeles based Environmental and Ambient artist Olive Ardizoni. Her characteristic is natural, peaceful and wonderful mood, but using electric and electronic instruments and technologies.