UWESTEINMETZ Saxophone, Composition, Church - U

UWE STEINMETZ
Saxophone, Composition, Church Music
NOW
Mr. Steinmetz lives and works as a freelance musician in
Berlin with his wife Lauren and their son Henry. To date he
has released twelve CD’s as leader and co-leader in Germany
and the US, and has collaborated on numerous other jazz and
Christian CD’s.
ROOTS
Uwe Steinmetz was born in Bremervörde, a small town in
northern Germany, in 1975. His first musical training came
when he started to play flute in a local brass band at the age
of seven, and soon after began composing songs based on
German folk tunes and marches. During his high school
years he switched his focus to the saxophone, participating in
numerous master classes and workshops, and composing for
school ensembles. He was a member of the regional and
national youth jazz orchestras and toured throughout Europe
and the United States while a student.
EDUCATION
Mr. Steinmetz’s influences came mainly from the teachers he
studied and performed with during his school years: John Surman, members of The Art
Ensemble of Chicago, Bob Mintzer, Michael Brecker and David Liebman, among many
others. He continued his musical education at the conservatories of music in Berlin and Bern
with Gebhard Ullman and Frank Sikora, followed by studies at the New England
Conservatory of Music in Boston where he studied and worked with Ben Schwendener, Jerry
Bergonzi and George Russell. He holds two degress: one in jazz composition and music
theory, and the other in saxophone performance. Additionally, Mr. Steinmetz earned a
certificate from George Russell for advanced studies in his Lydian Chromatic Concept,
authorizing him to teach all aspects of Russell’s unique music theory, which shaped modern
jazz in the 1960’s and 1970’s, including influences on artists such as Bill Evans, Miles Davis,
Eric Dolphy and Jan Garbarek.
PERFORMANCE
He has performed his own music on four continents and in more than thirty countries with
such internationally recognized artists as Joe Maneri, Hariharan, Markus Stockhausen, Peter
Weniger, Bob Mintzer, Wolfgang Sieber, Carlos Bica, Mads Tolling, Maria Joao, Bugge
Wesselthoft and many others.
AWARDS
Mr. Steinmetz has been a recipient of numerous grants and prizes, including complete
scholarships for all his studies, the 2000 Theodor Fontane Award from the Stifterverband der
Deutschen Wissenschaft, first prize at the 2001 European Jazz Competition in Getxo, Spain,
the “Jazz In” prize awarded by Lower Saxony in 2005/2006, and grants for his compositions
and other artistic work from the ministries of culture in Hannover and Berlin.
COMPOSING
Mr. Steinmetz’s compositions include works for string quartet and jazz ensemble, organ,
guitar, saxophone, choir, and jazz orchestra. Since 2002 he has worked with the Londonbased Fitzwilliam String Quartet, who premiered three of his works for large ensemble. In
2012 his Jazz Cantata “GOD IS NOW“ was premiered by Eric Ericsons Kammerkör from
Stockholm and Steinmetz´s own jazz tentett. In his compositional work he often deals with
biblical or theological themes. His work “STAGES ON THE WAY TO FREEDOM”, based
on poems German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote while imprisoned by the Nazis, has
been performed in schools, theatres and churches in Germany, Sweden, England, Switzerland,
Ethiopia and the USA. His work “THE PASSION OF THE APOSTLES” for choir, soprano,
big band and organ, explores Christian discipleship and the relationship between faith and
political action.
BRIDGE BUILDING
Mr. Steinmetz’s unwavering interest in building a bridge between the classical tradition of
organ improvisation and jazz has lead to encounters and CD-productions with leading
European organists, and an ongoing series of so far more than 100 concerts and liturgical
services combining jazz and theology in Berlin’s historic landmark, the Kaiser Wilhelm
Gedächtnis-Kirche (Memorial Church), and in Paris, Basel and St. Petersburg, Russia.
TEACHING
Mr. Steinmetz is a dedicated pedagogue. For the past twenty years he has given band clinics,
saxophone master classes and music theory workshops in high schools and conservatories in
both Germany and the US, served as a juror for youth jazz competitions in Germany, and has
lectured and given master classes and workshops on the interconnectedness of music and
theology in Europe, Russia and India. In 1999, Mr. Steinmetz served as an assistant music
teacher at the Kodaikanal International School in Tamil Nadu, South India, where he also
studied fundamentals of South Indian (carnatic) music. He has been on faculty at the
Conservatory of Music in Rostock, Germany, since 2008, where his responsibilities include
teaching saxophone, improvisation, jazz history, jazz theory and ensemble coaching.
MUSIC & THEOLOGY
Since 2009, Mr. Steinmetz has collaborated with the Lutheran Church in Germany for
concerts, conferences and recording projects, and has appeared frequently on panels about
improvised music, church music and theology. He has been invited to perform and lecture for
the European Symposium for Art and Theology at the University of Strasbourg, for the
Humboldt University Berlin and the University of Rostock. He has written for journals on the
interconnectedness of music and theology, and for a renewal of liturgical forms within the
Lutheran church. He is co-editor and initiator of “THE REAL FAITHBOOK OF GREAT
HYMNS“, an international collection of church hymns arranged by jazz artists for liturgical
use (published 2012). His work was recently portrayed by Deutsche Welle on ARTE,
Europe’s cultural television station and the ARD, Germany´s first national television station.
FAITH AND PEACE BUILDING
As a believing Christian he seeks to increase the awareness that music and other art forms can
help people discover a deeper, healing and reconciling truth in an increasingly fragmented
society . He works with the international peace organization Initiatives of Change, is the
international director of Crescendo Jazz (www.crescendo-jazz.org), an international
ecumenical movement of Christian professional musicians, and participates as an artist in
projects that foster and encourage intercultural dialogue and support civil peace-building
efforts.
FUTURE
Mr. Steinmetz’s most recent projects include the release of his recording “STREAM“ for jazz
tentett, a live cd-recording of his composition “PARADISE LOST“ based on texts by Milton
and Rilke, and the live cd-recording of a “FREEDOM CANTATA“ for Martin Luther that he
co-composes with his musical partner Daniel Stickan, commissioned by the church of St.
Katharinen in Hamburg. With Daniel Stickan he also initiated and oversees IN SPIRIT 2014,
a German-wide Music & Theology movement with 66 special events in cooperation with the
national cultural office of the German Lutheran Church (EKD.
MORE
www.uwesteinmetz.com // www.wavesmusic.de
www.jazzerstrecht.de // www.in-spirit.eu
LABEL: www.ejk-records.de
SELECTED QUOTES & REVIEWS
about Uwe Steinmetz`s artistic work
"If there is progressive, advanced spiritual music - here it is!"
"...Sounds where one has to look long for comparisons...that create an atmosphere of
intellectual freedom and spiritual openness..."
Tom Schulz, Hamburger Abendblatt, about WAVES (Edition Jazz aus Kirchen, 2013)
"Beautiful, evocative, compelling, dense at times while deeply tinged in heart and soul, Uwe
Steinmetz’s brilliant original compositions and visionary arrangements of classical
masterworks are eminently suited for the lens of the modern day string quartet form.
Masterfully brought to focus by the Fitzwilliam String Quartet, enriched and enlivened by jazz
violin wizard Mads Tolling, and highlighted by the composer’s own hard swinging virtuosic
saxophone playing, the new record of Uwe Steinmetz and the Fitzwilliam String Quartet is a
must-listen for anyone with ears for what’s happening in contemporary cross-genre music
making."
David Balakrishnan about ABSOLUTELY (Divine Arts, 2013)
violinist/founder of the Turtle Island String Quartet
“A very original instrumentation drawing through different colourful and rhythmical textures
a remarkable bridge between organ and jazz. In this poetical programme, the human and
saxophone voices offer contrasted reliefs to the rhetorics, towards an irresistible
expressivness.”
Dr. Naji Hakim, Paris, about WAVES (Edition Jazz aus Kirchen, 2013)
Superb string playing, terrific saxophone improvisations and brilliant violin playing come together
on a new Divine Art release of compositions and arrangements of Purcell and Bach by Uwe
Steinmetz. ...Well recorded with excellent notes from Uwe Steinmetz, Fitzwilliam violist, Alan
George and Divine Art’s own Stephen Sutton, this is a disc that all open minded classical and jazz
lovers should investigate.
The Classical Reviewer about ABSOLUTELY (Divine Arts, 2013)
The energizing music of Absolutely! with its rich meta content add a welcome spoonful of idealism to
today's relentless diet of self-interested commercialism...in my view the final track, an arrangement
of Bach's Chaconne from the Violin Partita No. 2 in which Uwe Steinmetz's saxophone provides an
improvised counterpoint to the violin line, is worth the purchase price of the CD alone.
„An Overgrown Path“about ABSOLUTELY (Divine Arts, 2013)
"Your music is beautiful and fresh. A breath of fresh air and I must hear more."
Tim Price, Jazz-Saxophonist, USA
"Anyone who has met saxophonist and composer Uwe Steinmetz, and heard him play, soon
finds that his art and his vision are all of a piece, inseparable. Sheer love of music bubbles
over, as does his passion for sharing that love with people of different cultures. In the
process, connections are not so much “created” as “discovered”. We were treated to an
immense variety of tone-colours, ranging from firm and forceful to quiet and delicate."
Review by Kathleen Dodds of a Solo-Recital at "The Barn Theatre", Greencoat Place, London
in April 2012
„I have found that music has remarkable powers to speak of this God, the giver of all good
gifts, a God who himself longs for us, longs that our yearning for ultimate harmony finds its
fulfilment in finding him. oday, many across the world are exploring and studying these
power, and writing about them as never before. I know literally hundreds of people in other
countries who would be thrilled with what the series of IN SPIRIT by Uwe Steinmetz has
made possible for us here. What we are about to enjoy tonight, and what many of you have
been enjoying for the last few weeks, deserves a global audience. I hope you will talk about
what you hear and spread the word.
Jeremy Begbie at Steinmetz`s liturgical concert series IN SPIRIT
on September 11th in Berlin 2009
„Uwe Steinmetz arrangement of „O Traurigjeit, O Herzeleid“, juxtaposed with „Christ ist
auferstanden“ and liberating saxophone improvisations is congenial ... the recording leaves
the listener astonished and is an inspiring example for the artistic freedom that comes from
shining a fresh light on the music of the reformation.“
Musik und Kirche (Music and Church) on the release of the CD „SIGNALE“ 07/2011
“Everytime I feel the Spirit" was an ambitious, inspiring and manysided composition
covering jazz from original swing styles up to experimental free elements. The solos were
courageous and bright – provided with the top musicians. Therefore this should absolutely be
heard again! “
Jukka Hauru, Helsingin Sanomat ABOUT THE PREMIERE OF MY BIG BAND SUITE
AT THE ESPOO FESTIVAL 16th June 2011
About the collaboration with pianist and composer Ulrike Haage: "Ulrike Haage`s intense
and exressive sound-clouds culminate and condensate in a clearing jazzy thunder storm when
she is joined by drummer Eric Schaefer and saxophonist Uwe Steinmetz“ (DIE ZEIT 07/2011
on Ulrike Haage`s new CD IN:FINITUM,
short listed for the New German Jazz Award 2012)
“...the band resembles the electric unit W ayne Shorter assembled for his H igh Life project.”
Coda (about the CD APFELSCHAUN with Ben Schwendener, Boston, USA)
The themes are simple and unforgettable; the song forms almost elemental, many of them
based on ideas developed for Schwendener's younger students...S teinmetz has an uncanny
ability to latch onto Schwendener's accompaniment and dynamically work in perfect synch.."
John Kelman (All About Jazz) / CD APFELSCHAUN
“Apfelschaun is an instant favorite.” L.J. Kopf, WWPV-FM / CD APFELSCHAUN
“Through it all, the musicians’ discerning excursions and the leader’s articulately crafted
compositions provide the winning formula.”
All Music Guide / CD APFELSCHAUN
“By listening to the CD I was immediately intrigued by the simplicity and subtlety of the
music. Especially in these times where often only the spectacular seems to be important, the
musicians decided upon a courageous and absolutely necessary artistic decision. Spare and
economic improvisations, lyrical interpretations and melodic gravity allow the listener to
discover something new every time. The challenge of expressing something complex in a
potential simplicity is met here very successfully... you achieved with this recording something
special and musically sustainable. Bravo! This CD will certainly spin regularly in my CDPlayer.”
Peter Weniger, Saxophonist & Composer, Jazz Institut Berlin,
12/2010 CD APFELSCHAUN “New Episode”
About “STAGES ON THE WAY TO FREEDOM“
“A successfull artistic endevaour to transform events of Germanies darkest times into a
promising and hope giving sign for the future – signs of a new Germany, congratulations to
Uwe Steinmetz.“
Gunnar Soederlund, KULTUR FOR LIVET, Stockholm
“Congratulations to „Stages on the way to freedom“ - what a powerful and profoundly
moving piece of music. I was personally deeply touched by listening to your music.
Mark Ludwig, TEREZIN STRING QUARTET, Boston/USA

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