Volker Bertelmann aka Hauschka

He is a pianist, a successful composer of ensemble and film music, and a passionate sound explorer in everything he does: Volker Bertelmann, aka Hauschka. His recording studio in Düsseldorf is equipped with a grand piano that has been pre­pared with a wide variety of utensils. The pursuit of novel sounds that have that certain something, that trigger a response in the listener and generate tension, has been a constant in his musical career since the release of his CD ›The Prepared Piano‹ in 2005. The experimental spirit of a sound tinkerer is also evident time and again in the soundtracks he has composed for several Hollywood films and tel­evision productions. For the 2024 thriller ›Conclave‹, for instance, he searched for an instrument that would capture the unique sacred atmosphere of the Vatican. He found what he was looking for in France, where the Cristal Baschet is still played. This instru­ment consists of glass tubes of different lengths that create ethereal sounds similar to those of the glass harmonica. In 2023, he was awarded an Oscar for his music for the war drama ›All Quiet on the Western Front‹. On 14 December 2025, he will be a guest of Ensemble Modern, joining its musicians for a perfor­mance as part of the ›Checkpoint‹ series, which is now in its tenth year of providing a space for cross-genre experimentation. »I am very much looking forward to working with Hauschka«, says Paul Cannon, double bassist with Ensemble Modern. »He is an extremely well-known ›sound collector‹ who has developed a unique language and is also a superb improviser. We share our own ›sound col­lections‹ and play together: I can’t imagine a better way to meet and make music.«