Nik Bärtsch (Swiss pianist, composer, bandleader, record producer and author from Zürich.)

This is my conversation with Nik Bärtsch. It took place in January 2025 from his home near Zurich.
Bärtsch studied piano and percussion before the age of ten, prior to his studies at the Academy of Music, he was taught for 5 years (1986-1991) by Boris Mersson (1921-2013). His affinity for rhythmic music can be traced back to his childhood. He first learnt to play the drums and then the piano. He met Kaspar Rast at a young age, with whom he still makes music today. He was a comic fan and collector from an early age. He was particularly influenced by the classic style of the Belgian Tintin illustrator Hergé, the Ligne Claire.
This style of drawing a motif with a few strokes and a certain verve helped him more than studying the great musical role models. At the age of 14, he was fascinated by the energy and music of the film Ran by the legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. Since then, he has been intensively involved with Japanese culture. At the age of 18, his mother introduced him to Zen meditation and gave him the book "Zen Mind - Beginner's Mind" by Zen master Shunryu Suzuki. The book was an important inspiration for him. The idea of an open, curious and humble "Beginner's mind" has shaped his life.
Before studying at the University of Music (Musikhochschule), he was taught by Boris Mersson for five years. He first studied music at the Zurich Musikhochschule (now Zurich University of the Arts) and graduated in 1997 with a classical piano diploma. Additionally, he studied linguistics, musicology, and philosophy at the University of Zurich from 1998 to 2001. He grew interested in the work of avant-garde composers John Cage, Steve Reich, and Morton Feldman.
He formed his band Mobile in 1997, and his band Ronin in 2001. Manfred Eicher signed the band Ronin to his label, ECM Records, and released 2006 the first album Stoa. During the next year, Bärtsch became co-owner of a club in Zurich. Bärtsch's music has been called zen funk, but with the album Llyria, he moved toward contemporary classical music. He was instructor of Practical Aesthetics at the Musikhochschule Zurich-Winterthur from 2000 to 2003.
source: en.wikipedia.o...
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