KellerMusic

Matthias Keller: Musician – Writer – Composer & Arranger

Biography

The Musician

Born in 1956 in Bremen (Germany)

studied piano, music teaching and church music (Osnabruck conservatory – music academies of Nurnberg and Munich)

1974 first solo album (organ)

longterm position as choral master and organist

since 1987 musical partner of pan flute virtuoso Ulrich Herkenhoff, with whom he realized diverse CD productions (Thorofon, Koch/Universal, Oehms Classics)

Writer And Music Journalist

Since 1985 working as a writer and producer for Bavarian Radio Munich (BR), Hessischer Rundfunk Frankfurt (HR), Northgerman Radio Hamburg (NDR) and other radio stations.

Print media: Fono Forum, Klassik Heute, Opernwelt, "DU", Sueddeutsche Zeitung etc..

Author of the music encyclopedia Komponisten der Gegenwart (composers of the present) and juror of "Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik" (German Record Award).

Since april 2000 producer/editor in charge of BR-Klassik (choral & sacred music, organ music, film music)

Film Music

Since 1981 one of his main focuses. 

1994 he produced the film music radio series Filmmusik-Reihe "Sounds of Cinema" for Hessischer Rundfunk Frankfurt (HR), later also published on a 4 CD-set (TR Verlagsunion, Munich).

1996 he published the book "Stars and Sounds – film music, the 3rd cinematic dimension", (Bosse/Baerenreiter, Kassel).
For 2 years he worked as a music consultant for Bavarian TV; he further regularly does workshops and filmmusic seminares e.g. on behalf of Munich Music Academy, Second German TV (ZDF) and the German Goethe institute.  

In 2003 Keller initiated the weekly film music radio show "Cinema" on BR-Klassik (formerly Bayern 4 Klassik).

Numerous personal contacts with leading film composers as Angelo  Badalamenti, John Barry, Bruce Broughton, Patrick Doyle, Elliot Goldenthal, James Newton Howard, Howard Shore, David Raksin, Ennio Morricone, Laurence Rosenthal, Enjott Schneider, Hans Zimmer, Don Davis, John Debney, Gabriel Yared, Mark Mancina and others.

As a film music consultant he further develops film music programs for diverse orchestras and institutions as the EuropeanFilmPhilharmonie, Tonicale, Munich Radio Orchestra and many others.

In 2004 he organized the Germany premiere with Ennio Morricone conducting his own works at Munich Philharmonie.

In collaboration with entertainer Roger Willemsen, the conductors Gavin Sutherland and Dirk Brossé and the Munich Radio Orchestra he did live events like "And the Oscar goes to...".

In 2011 on behalf of Bayerischer Rundfunk he co-produced with composer Howard Shore the "Lord of the Rings Symphony" for CD (released on Howe Records)

Composer & Arranger

As a composer and arranger, Matthias Keller already worked for several musicians and ensembles like Northwest German Philharmonic, Dallas Chamber Orchestra, Munich Symphonic Orchestra, Capella Istropolitana, Polish Chamber Philharmonic Ensemble Modern and NDR-Radiophilharmonie. In 2000, he produced and partly arranged the album „Symphonic Cinema“ (Koch/Universal) with panflute virtuoso Ulrich Herkenhoff as the soloist and NDR Philharmonic Orchestra, which received the German Echo Classics Award. To be added the collaboration with artists like Sarah Connor, the EuorpaChorAkademie, Tony Henry, Tim Bentzko, Nico Santos, Max Mutzke, Cassandra Steen, Enrique Ugarte and violinist Aleksey Igudesman.

In 2003 Keller arranged and produced together with vocal group Die Singphoniker the album „A Tribute to Simon and Garfunkel“ (Oehms Classics), to be followed in 2004 by the album "Balkan Rhapsody", performed by Ulrich Herkenhoff and the Munich Radio Orchestra (Oehms Classics).

For the FIFA World Championship 2006 he wrote the great final to be performed on June 6, 2006 at Munich Olympic Stadium by the three Orchestras and choirs of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, Bavarian State Orchestra and Bavarian Radio Orchestra, conducted by Christian Thielemann, Zubin Mehta and Mariss Jansons simultaneously and with Diana Damrau, Placido Domingo and Lang Lang as the soloists.