Cornelius Claudio Kreusch

“Whether centennial piano titans Tatum, Solal, Horowitz, Gould, Kühn, Hancock or Jarrett, Kreusch, pulls all them all into the maelstrom of his outrageous virtuosity.” Attila Csampai (Bayerischer Rundfunk, HIFi & Records, Music Manual, Tonart)

“A pianist like no one else. Endlessly fascinating to hear.” (John Dyer, Boston Globe)

“A genius talent, a nimble fingered sorcerer, a creative iconoclast - the alchemist.” (France Ouest)

Equally a world-class pianist, creative producer as well as successful entrepreneur, the passion of Cornelius Claudio Kreusch is the music and the piano.

The classically-trained pianist Cornelius Claudio Kreusch (who studied with several teachers including Mordecai Shehori, a disciple of Vladimir Horowitz, and Claude-France Journés, a disciple of Francis Poulenc, among others) and jazz legends Jaki Byard of Charles Mingus and Mal Waldron of Billie Holiday, as well as contemporaries Laszlo Gardony, Charlie Banacos, Ray Santisi and Leonid Chizhik. He is a graduate from Berklee College of Music (Bachelor of Music) in Boston and from Manhattan School of Music (Master of Music) in New York City, each as Honorable Alumnus. He also studied Arranging with Manny Albam in New York. Besides his extensive musical studies, Cornelius also studied civil engineering (Technische Universität München) and economics (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München).

This Steinway Artist is the recipient of many prizes and awards including the Berklee College of Music's Jazz-Performance-Awards ('93 and '94), Manhattan School of Music's President's Award ('95 and '96) and Germany's Scala-Award ('99) for Artist of the Year, as well as the Jazzprize Burghausen (’92), Jazzprize Biberach (‘90) and the city of Munich's Cultural Award ("Kulturförderpreis München"), as well as several GRAMMY® Nomination Entries.

He was selected as the youngest pianist for the 1. Concours International de Piano Jazz Martial Solal in Paris in 1989 and was one of five finalists at the Great American Jazz Piano Competition in 1994, the only European finalist in the history of this competition. Cornelius won first prize in the jazz section and an honorable mention in the hiphop category at the International Songwriting Competition in the same year of 2005.

Cornelius has performed at some of the most prestigious venues and music festivals including; the Blue Note, Steinway Hall and the Knitting Factory in New York, the Miles Davis Hall at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Munich Philharmonic Hall, Théâtre des Halles in Paris, Fondacion Miro in Barcelona, Tata Theater in Bombay, Sala Palatuli in Bukarest, and the Centro de las Artes in Mexico City, Teatro Amadeo Roldán in Havanna, King Fahad Cultural Centre in Riadh and many other places around the world.

He has performed and recorded with some of the most respected jazz and world musicians in the world including; Herbie Hancock, Salif Keïta, Richard Bona, Bobby McFerrin, Miles Davis' last saxophonist Kenny Garrett, saxophonists Bobby Watson (Art Blakey) and Greg Osby (M-Base), bassist Anthony Cox (Stan Getz, John Scofield) and drummers Marvin "Smitty" Smith , Will Calhoun (Living Colour), Terri Lyne Carrington, bassists James Genus (both Herbie Hancock), Zaf Zapha (Salif Keïta), hand-drummer Jamey Haddad (Paul Simon, Sting), and piano duos with Herbie Hancock, Joachim Kühn, Laszlo Gardony and Aydin Esen.

He has recorded with several prestigious recording companies including; GLM, ENJA records, ACT music + vision and Arte Nova/BMG, OehmsClassics, BlackMudSound Records, MUSICJUSTMUSIC® and GLM music, a body of over 20 albums in various genres under his name.

A pianist “who sounds like no one else” (Boston Globe, John Dyer), CCK performed the first live internet concert on two pianos across the Atlantic together with Herbie Hancock back in 1995, long before the arrival of Skype.

Cornelius is also the Founder and CEO of state-of-the-art music and technology company MUSICJUSTMUSIC® (awarded the RedHerring100 for Best Private Tech Companies 2009)

Together with his brother, classical guitarist Johannes Tonio Kreusch, he is the artistic director for various concert series and festivals, most notably the Ottobrunner Konzerte, which includes their annual festivals: Flamenco! Festival, Festival der Gitarre, Jazzfest Ottobrunn, Classical & Beyond Crossover Festival, Klavier Festival, Ottobrunner Meisterkurse, as well as their international cooperation with the Berklee College of Music: Berklee@Ottobrunn.

Cornelius Claudio Kreusch’s passion is the music. His voice is the piano. Cornelius is married, has five children and enjoys everything forward-thinking, creative and fun for humans.

Cornelius Claudio Kreusch latest recording is a 2-CD offering entitled “ZAUBERBERG. A musical hommage to Thomas Mann.”

“When one thinks about Cornelius and his music, one realizes, that he cannot be pigeon hold into any one musical style or genre. That he is versatile goes without saying. He combines elements of many musical styles to create the very unique sound that is his. And you will find it captivating. The Steinway piano is nothing until an artist comes along, that breathes life into its instruments. And I have it on very good authority, that Steinway Pianos are never happier, than when they are under the hands of Cornelius Claudio Kreusch. His music like his spirit is uplifting and it will bring a smile to your face just as it will bring a smile to the face of the piano that is here with us this evening. Please join me and give a very warm welcome to our friend Cornelius Claudio Kreusch.” (Peter Goodrich, Former Director Concerts & Artists, North America, STEINWAY & SONS)