Alexej Gerassimez (born 1987 in
Essen
Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...
) is a German solo percussion player and composer.
Gerassimez was born in Essen, Germany.
His brothers are also musicians: Nicolai Gerassimez is a pianist and
Wassily Gerassimez
Wassily Gerassimez (born 21 June 1991 in Essen) is a German cellist and composer.
His parents were born in Germany and worked, just like his brothers Nicolai and Alexej, as professional musicians.
Life
Gerassimez began studying cello with Go ...
is a cellist. He studied at the
Cologne Conservatory of Music, the Berlin Conservatory and the
Munich Conservatory of Music.
In 2010 he won the
TROMP Percussion Competition for solo percussion
as well as the Audience Award and the Press Prize. In 2015 he took up a tutoring position at the
Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
Royal Birmingham Conservatoire is a music school, drama school and concert venue in Birmingham, England. It provides education in music, acting, and related disciplines up to postgraduate level. It is a centre for scholarly research and docto ...
in England.
He has performed with orchestras in Europe including the
Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin, the
Beethoven Orchestra Bonn and the Bochum Philharmonic, as well as internationally in Japan, in the US with the
Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, and in
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
.
In 2022 he performed the New Zealand premiere performance of New Zealand composer
John Psathas
John Psathas, (born Ioannis Psathas, ; 1966) is a New Zealand Greek composer. He has works in the repertoire of such high-profile musicians as Evelyn Glennie, Michael Houstoun, Michael Brecker, Joshua Redman and the New Juilliard Ensemble, a ...
's work ''Leviathan'' for orchestra and solo percussion.
The work takes its inspiration from
Beethoven's ''
Pastoral Symphony'' and was commissioned in 2020 by the
Tonhall Düsseldorf and dedicated to Gerassimez. The premiere performance took place in 2021 with the Berlin Radio Symphony under
Markus Poschner.
Gerassimez has made numerous recordings and CDs and is also a composer.
External links
Alexej Gerassimez's website
References
1987 births
Musicians from Essen
German percussionists
German composers
Living people
Academics of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
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