about

Søren Gemmer Press Photo in Circular Room looming over electronic musical equipment

Søren Gemmer b. 1984

Pianist, composer and electronic musician working as a band leader as well as a sideman. A healthy appetite for different musical expressions has led to work in modern jazz, in free improvisation, in indie music and most recently improvised in electro-acoustic improvised music/sound. The debut album AT FIRST (ILK, 2013) received widespread critical acclaim for its blend of modern jazz and a love and awe of late romantic and 20th century classical piano music. Follow-up album THE LARK (WhyPlayJazz RS028) presented an elaboration of the trademark melodicism displayed on the debut.

Søren Gemmer is currently working on projects 'Hjertets Pumpende Slid' with poet Caspar Eric and 'Alting Har En Tid' with actor Thure Lindhardt in crossdiscplinary explorations of poetry, music, word and sound.

Short biography

Born and raised near Aalborg in the Northern part of Denmark, Søren Gemmer by no means took to music early on. Being an avid personal computer enthusiast (when those where just getting personal) and an avid reader from an early age, Søren engaged in musical activity from a visual perspective, conceptualizing about music rather than paying any sort of attention by ear. Not until being caught by the allure of the rock drummer fantasy in local bands did the true emotional potential of music present itself to him. It is this duality of cognition and emotion, complexity and simplicity so to speak, and the challenge of balancing them that eventually drew Gemmer to become a musician.

Since 2009 he has been living in Copenhagen, Denmark. He completed his Advanced Postgraduate Diploma (aka 'Soloist Programme') fleshing out compositions and concepts based on 'fluid non-metric rhythmic strings'heavily inspired by bird song elements in 20th century composer Messiaens music in June of 2016.

Collaborations and sideman appearences include live work with poet Jørgen Leth, actor Thure Lindhardt, poet Caspar Eric, Gilad Hekselman (US)ª, Palle Mikkelborg, Ralph Alessi (US), Thomas Agergaard and a string of utterly coincidental, yet somewhat successful, appearences with the Danish Radio Big Band.

See 'Concerts' for a listing of live and studio work as a band leader and sideman.

Contact Søren for full and updated resumé.