Nils Frahm

When it comes to defining the space between classical and electronic music, hardly any other name is mentioned as often as that of the Berlin-based pianist, composer and producer Nils Frahm. His unconventional approach to an age-old instrument, played contemplatively and intimately, and his sonic alchemy of ambient textures and atmospheric electronica, has won him many fans around the world. Numerous tours and concerts all over the globe have strengthened his reputation as both an exceptional instrumentalist and a fascinating live musician. His albums have garnered international acclaim from critics and audiences alike, and his live shows are regularly sold out.

Following on from his first solo piano works and a collaborative record with cellist Anne Müller, Nils Frahm’s breakthrough album Felt was released on Erased Tapes Records in 2011. Two years later and after extensive touring, Frahm returned to critical acclaim with his album Spaces, expressing his love for experimentation and answering his fan’s call for a record that truly reflects what they experience during his live shows. In 2015, Frahm launched Piano Day, an official global body created with his closest friends to celebrate the piano via various innovative, piano-related projects and concerts around the world. That same year, Frahm’s first film score release, Music For The Motion Picture Victoria written for the one-take feature film by Sebastian Schipper, won the esteemed German Film Prize for Best Soundtrack. Other film work includes a collaborative score with Woodkid for Ellis, a short film by French artist JR featuring Robert De Niro, as well as contributions to James Gray’s Ad Astra starring Brad Pitt and Julian Rosefeldt‘s Manifesto with Cate Blanchett.

Following the release of his album All Melody in 2018, Frahm took his live show around the world on a two-year-long tour, with over 180 sold out performances including New York’s Brooklyn Steel, Le Trianon in Paris, L.A.’s Disney Hall, the Sydney Opera House, and the prestigious Saal 1 at Funkhaus Berlin. In December 2020, he released the concert film Tripping with Nils Frahm, trying to freeze a moment of this journey and capture his concerts in picture and sound. The film is produced by the label and production company LEITER, in association with Plan B Entertainment.

In celebration of Piano Day, Nils shared Graz in March 2021, while his seven-track album 2X1=4 with F.S.Blumm, out on LEITER in September 2021, finds him unexpectedly exploring a dub-influenced universe. In December 2021, Nils published the third edition of his Sheets music book series and also released another solo piano album: Old Friends New Friends is a collection of 23 tracks, almost all hitherto unreleased and omitted from previous albums and projects.

For 2022, Nils Frahm has some more ambitious projects in the making. Returning to the live stage for the first time since 2019, he will appear at the Sydney Opera House in June for the world premiere performance of his forthcoming global tour named Music For. On September 23, he will release an expansive new album, Music For Animals, his first fresh studio material since 2018/2019’s All Melody/All Encores and his first full length album of brand-new music for LEITER, the label he co-founded with his manager, Felix Grimm.