Clemens Christian Poetzsch

Deep inside, pianist Clemens Christian Poetzsch always knew what music meant to him: freedom. Freedom to improvise; freedom to create new worlds of sound; freedom to follow his instinct wherever it may lead him. During his childhood in Dresden, Poetzsch received his first piano lessons from his grandfather, an opera singer, and immediately immersed himself in the worlds of Bach, Schubert and Clementis. Then, at the age of ten, a birthday present from his brother: a music book with Frank Sinatra standards that opened his ears to more extensive musical possibilities. Poetzsch soon played in the bar of the neighbouring house, improvising and throwing song structures over and over again. These were formative experiences that accompanied Poetzsch throughout his classical music education at the Hochschule für Musik in Dresden. During his piano and composition studies he spent his free time playing in jazz and free improvisation bands with friends and colleagues. He gave concerts, went on tour, discovered electronic music and absorbed all knowledge like a sponge. "I really like playing Bach and all the big ones," he says, "but from the beginning I just liked writing music myself and making my own songs. Playing in the orchestra or in big bands never really interested me". And so what started as pure pleasure and the need to "find environments where I can surprise myself" became an ever-increasing influence on his music. "There never was a real plan," Poetzsch explains, "but I found that when I stepped away from all the sheet music and tried to find something for myself, it became my little language, and my voice and composition style really developed out of all of that."