Peter Lehel (born 13 September 1965) is a German

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

and composer.

Life

Peter Lehel was born in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the German States of Germany, state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital o ...

in the

Upper Rhine Plain The Upper Rhine Plain, Rhine Rift Valley or Upper Rhine Graben ( German: ''Oberrheinische Tiefebene'', ''Oberrheinisches Tiefland'' or ''Oberrheingraben'', French: ''Vallée du Rhin'') is a major rift, about and on average , between Basel in the s ...

in (

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

). He began taking saxophone lessons at an early age. From 1988 to 1990 he studied

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

and

Pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describ ...

, focusing on

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

at the

State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart The State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart is a professional school for musicians and performing artists in Stuttgart, Germany. Founded in 1857, it is one of the oldest schools of its kind in Germany. History The school was f ...

. Until 1990 he lived in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

for one year, where he studied at the

Franz Liszt Academy of Music The Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music ( hu, Liszt Ferenc Zeneművészeti Egyetem, often abbreviated as ''Zeneakadémia'', "Liszt Academy") is a music university and a concert hall in Budapest, Hungary, founded on November 14, 1875. It is home to the ...

and he completed his studies in Stuttgart in 1993. He is teaching jazz, theory, big band and saxophone at Music University Karlsruhe, Germany since 2004.

Work

His music includes works for jazz quartet, saxophone quartet, big band, saxophone & organ, string quartet, jazz quartet with string orchestra, chamber music and symphony orchestra with jazz soloists. As an arranger, he has worked for Barbara Dennerlein (CD "Change of Pace"), Sabine Meyer, Trio Clarone with Paquito & d.. Rivera. He is co-owner of independent record label ''finetone music'' and since 2004 he is

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professor ...

for jazz, harmony, improvisation and

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...

at the Karlsruhe's University of Music.

Ensembles

Lehel is leader of his own groups such as ''Peter Lehel Quartet'',Peter-Lehel-Quartet
21. May 2011 and he is a member of: * ''Pipes & Phones'' with the organist and composer Peter Schindler * ''SaltaCello'' (also with Peter Schindler) * ''Hoppel Hoppel Rhythm Club'' (jazz for children)

Discography (Range)

* Sea Of Love (2021), The New Peter Lehel Quartet * Mood Antigua (2020), Finefones Saxophone Quartet * Sonority(2019), Finefones Saxophone Quartet &

Jim Snidero James J. Snidero (born May 29, 1958 in Redwood City, California, United States) is an American jazz saxophonist. Performance career Snidero grew up in the Washington DC area (Camp Springs, MD), then attended the U of North Texas and performed in ...

* Nocturne (2019), with

Wolfgang Meyer Wolfgang Meyer (13 August 1954 – 17 March 2019) was a German clarinetist and professor of clarinet at the Musikhochschule Karlsruhe. He worked internationally as a soloist, in chamber music ensembles, and in jazz, with a repertoire from early mu ...

* Hidden Tracks (2018), with Kálmán Oláh, Thomas Gunther, Ull Moeck * Aria (2018), with Peter Schindler * Lyrical Album (2016), with Kálmán Oláh, Mini Schulz * Missa in Jazz (2016), with Chamber Choir Baden-Württemberg & Peter Lehel Quartet * Chamber Jazz (2015), with

& Peter Lehel Quartet * Moonlight & Lovesongs (2015), with actor

Siegfried Rauch Siegfried Rauch (2 April 1932 – 11 March 2018) was a German film and television actor. In a career spanning over 60 years, he appeared in several international film productions and had leading roles in numerous German television productions. C ...

& Peter Lehel Quartet * The Clarinet (2014), with Wolfgang Meyer & Peter Lehel Quartet & Bigband University of Music Karlsruhe * Two of a kind (2012), with

Sabine Meyer Sabine Meyer (born 30 March 1959) is a German classical clarinetist. Biography Born in Crailsheim, Baden-Württemberg, Meyer began playing the clarinet at an early age. Her first teacher was her father, also a clarinetist. She studied with Ott ...

, Trio di Clarone * Song of Praise (2012), with Chamber Choir Baden-Württemberg & Peter Lehel Quartet * Bone Talks (2002, with Henning Wiegräbe & Peter Lehel Quartet * Funk-a-lot (2011, with Finefones Saxophone Quartet * Choro e Bossa Nova (2009), with clarinetist

* Boleros (2007), with Wolfgang Meyer * Soul Balance (2007) * Recht harmonisch (2005) * Live At Birdland 59 (2004) * Moods (2003) * Ballads (2001) * Heavy Rotation (1998)

Awards

* 1997 Jazzpreis (Jazz prize) Baden-Württemberg * 2000

Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik The Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik ("German Record Critics' Award") was established in Germany in 1963 by publisher Richard Kaselowsky with the aim of setting the "most rigorous standards for supreme achievement and quality" in the field ...

* 2006 Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lehel, Peter 1965 births Living people German music arrangers German jazz composers Male jazz composers German jazz saxophonists Male saxophonists German jazz pianists Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart alumni 21st-century saxophonists German male pianists 21st-century pianists 21st-century German male musicians Male jazz pianists