Martin Kohlstedt

In the artist's words:

Martin Kohlstedt is one of the most outstanding composers, pianists and producers of instrumental music and electronica. His previous albums and their companions in the form of reworks have received international recognition, accompanied by concert tours all over the world.

Both live and on his recordings, Martin Kohlstedt sets standards in how cutting edge electronica productions can come together with analog and acoustic mindsets from classical piano, ambient, field recordings and score design. Kohlstedt manages to intuitively find a common form for the influences from such different worlds and to create a living body from them. As a spectacular festival show, an introspective piano concert, a multidimensional film soundtrack or an immersive album experience.

Kohlstedt describes his way of working as modular composing; the pieces are constantly in motion and do not follow a fixed form, even in concert. Improvisation is an essential part of his work, as is being at eye level with the audience, having the courage to fail, searching and interacting with people, space and context. Martin Kohlstedt has already collaborated with renowned partners such as the GewandhausChor Leipzig, with artists such as Douglas Dare, Sudan Archives, Henrik Schwarz and labels such as Warner Classics. In addition to his own pieces, Kohlstedt writes soundtracks for films, plays, podcasts and radio plays. With Edition Kohlstedt, he runs his own label and tries to live up to his responsibility as an artist with his own reforestation project.

"The extremely minimal approach, the beauty in the figures arranged with great attention to detail, the sparse mathematical shaping of individual sequences become a pull. His music is time-lapse and super slow motion in equal parts." ARD

"Martin Kohlstedt narrates films with his fingers." Time Online