Christian Nagel · Piano

BIOGRAPHY

Christian G. Nagel, born in Kiel in 1974, began his musical training at the age of five. At twelve, he was accepted into the preparatory program of the state of Schleswig-Holstein, where he received piano lessons from Bengt Johnsson and Peter Froundjiian. At the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, he studied piano with Catherine Vickers and composition with Wolfgang Grandjean.

His artistic activities cover a wide range of musical fields. As a pianist and accompanist, he has worked with the Bochum Symphony Orchestra, the Aalto Theater in Essen, the WDR Radio Orchestra Cologne, the Munich Radio Orchestra, Neue Philharmonie Westfalen, Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern, Theater Freiburg, SWR Symphony Orchestra, Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz, and the Kassel State Orchestra, where he made his debut in 2008 with Bernstein's Symphony No. 2, “The Age of Anxiety.” At the Gelsenkirchen Music Theater im Revier, he played Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 in 2016 as part of the ballet production “B3 vertanzt.”

One of his main focuses is the interpretation of new music; he has repeatedly given piano recitals as part of the “Piano Plus” festival (new music for piano and electronics) at the ZKM Karlsruhe and has worked with composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen and Philippe Manoury. He participated as a pianist in the production “Die Soldaten” by Bernd Alois Zimmermann at the Ruhrtriennale, which was also performed as a guest performance at the Lincoln Center Festival in New York.

In addition to his piano activities, Christian G. Nagel is also a composer: his works include piano music, chamber music, choral works, and musicals. In April 2015, his work “Wasser des Lebens” (Water of Life) was premiered by the Bochum Symphony Orchestra and the Bochum Philharmonic Choir under his direction.

Christian G. Nagel has always retained a penchant for unusual projects: he appeared at the Bochum Theater in “Harold and Maude” as a piano-playing butler; dressed as “Mozart,” he performed in Essen, Mülheim, and Münster in front of a total of 10,000 elementary school students; and in the production “Singing River,” he conducted a 500-member choir on the water in Stuttgart's industrial harbor.

Since 2020, Christian G. Nagel has been Professor of Piano / Applied Piano at the Freiburg University of Music.

(Source: https://www.mh-freiburg.de/personen/details/prof-christian-nagel)