Neoclassical Suite is a column that will present 7 recent, distinctive tracks of the neoclassical-modern classical-contemporary -and beyond!- music field. 

Note: All Bio/about sections provided/written by the artists.

The Players

Magnus John Anderson

(epic music, neoclassical)

“Magnus John Anderson is an experimental musician, acclaimed pianist and composer from Sweden. He lives in Berlin and Stockholm. .

With a sense of French melancholy, Magnus John Anderson, melts together his piano and tone with classical music. Through improvisations and melodies a subtle and personal music is heard. All with his original compositions. This gives him a unique expression and a music with completely new shades of color.” (Magnus John Anderson)

Kenzo Zurzolo

(neoclassical, ambient)

“Inspired by ‘imaginary garden’, a painting by artist and close friend Lenny Mathe, the debut EP from Kenzo Zurzolo is a minimalist journey focused around the piano. The hushed tones of the instrument, the faint sounds of the internal mechanics and a few sophisticated touches of electronics draw the listener into an immersed state of serenity.” (Kenzo Zurzolo)

GéNIA

(neoclassical, solo piano)

“Described by The Times as “an outstanding musician”, an enigma of the music world, Russian-born concert pianist turned composer-yogi, GéNIA, enjoyed success with her compositions alongside several sold-out London shows, whilst her music enjoyed placements in the critically acclaimed BBC America TV Series ‘Killing Eve” (starring Sandra Oh) and well-known British ITV Series ’Cold Feet”.

GéNIA’s music compositions can be heard on Classic FM, Scala Radio, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 3, BBC London Radio 94.9, BBC World Service. London News TV Channel, Talk Radio, BBC Wales Radio, to name just a few, as well as Caffé Nero branches worldwide (as GéNIA is Caffé Nero’s featured classical artist) and also in various TV series.

Described by Gramophone magazine as “a charismatic pianist”, GéNIA is known for her enthralling stage presence. She comes from a distinguished line of Russian pianists and was taught by her great-grandmother, the renowned pedagogue Regina Horowitz, the sister of pianist Vladimir Horowitz. GéNIA made her London debut a in the Park Lane Group Young Artist Series, which was followed by concert tours in the UK, Europe and USA. London venues include Wigmore Hall, Barbican, Southbank Centre, Olympia, Kings Place, St. John’s Smith Square and St. Martin in the Fields.

As a performing artist GéNIA made a controversial and pioneering move away from the classical concert platform for a number of years. As an innovative composer and performer who crossed over into the world of pop music, she has collaborated with an eclectic range of artists, producers and composers including Gabriel Prokofiev, Howard Skempton, the Brodsky Quartet, Andy Sheppard, Jason Yarde, multi-Grammy nominated record producer Chris Craker, the double BAFTA award winner and six-time Emmy nominee sound engineer Nigel Heath, as well as dance producers Germ, Vex’d and Kreepa.

Breaking classical music traditions, GéNIA’s concerts often take the form of a show, rather than a classical concert, as she loves to connect with her audience, making the experience very personal to them.

She is also a founder of Piano-Yoga®, a groundbreaking piano method which was described as ‘Th 21 century answer to playing the piano’ by Yoga & Health Magazine and featured in many publications.” (GéNIA)

Han Cheng Yeh

(neoclassical, cinematic, chamber music)

“Han Cheng Yeh was born on October 25, 1984, in Taipei, Taiwan. He has been producing movie soundtracks and award ceremony music over ten years. Every covers be taken by Himself, in recent years, he has been trying to collaborate with audio visual team frequently. After growing his beat moniker for 10 years, the TW artist goes beyond the confines of electronic music in order to heavily emphasize imagery and mood by exploring the depths of downtempo, techno, breaks and neoclassical music.

Close to silence, he understands in his heart that it is useless to talk, and he does not know how to talk. His works are just like his person, melancholy and sad, gentle and hot, let people fall into his thoughts accidentally, where you can hear what he wants to say, loud and clear. You will be curious, he sees a picture, takes a photo; he listens to some music, makes some tunes, such a sensitive senses, but does not speak, always used to input his own output, what way will he perceive the flavor.” (Han Cheng Yeh)

S. Salter

(neoclassical, cinematic)

“An amalgamation of intricate piano compositions, poised production elements, and carefully placed field recordings from Amsterdam and Berlin.” (S. Salter)

Igor Sebastièn

(neoclassical, solo piano)

“Born in France, Igor moved to Amsterdam at the age of 23 to study. Inspired by pop music he started making piano covers and lofi music. More recent his love for piano music grew, and he will be releasing Piano covers on a monthly basis and promote them via social media. (Igor Sebastièn)

Roman Nagel

(neoclassical, solo piano)

“Originally from Germany, but discovered in Austria, Neo-Classical pianist Roman Nagel with his first release on AMADEO, the Label of the most important recordings of Friedrich Gulda.
 A hundred years ago, Sigmund Freud would have loved Roman Nagel. He prefers to stand on the edge of the chasm where the unconscious lurks, or expressed differently, where the psychological structure that influences both the ego and the superego. Whereas for Freud the dream was the ideal path to the unconscious, for Nagel it is improvisation. He looks for patterns and repetitive elements and develops a vocabulary consisting of modules he enjoys varying. Suddenly he had arrived in neo-classic music, music that oscillates between meditative calm and underlying turmoil. A very special artist who has many stories to tell, especially those involving the environment, climate protection and racism. Roman Nagel likes to define music as a kind of attention getter. It should not be an end in itself – but should point towards important social issues and lead to concrete action via the emotions it triggers.” (Roman Nagel)

The Music

Christos Doukakis