Vincent Meissner

piano

Born in 2000, pianist Vincent Meissner is considered one of the most promising emerging talents on the German jazz scene. Growing up in a village in Central Saxony, he found his instrument at an early age and discovered jazz as his passion, which was to become his life's goal. At the age of sixteen he went to Dresden to attend the Landesgymnasium für Musik. A fire was stoked with new discoveries: Oscar Peterson, Dave Brubeck and Bud Powell were followed by Paul Bley, Monk, Craig Taborn, Vijay Iyer and the Germans Pablo Held, Achim Kaufmann, Joachim Kühn and Michael Wollny. The journey was the destination. Vincent Meissner has remained a seeker and explorer to this day, who also delves into contemporary piano music. Since 2019 he now studies in Leipzig (Hochschule für Musik und Theater) with Michael Wollny, where he currently lives and works.

In his still young career he has already been honoured with numerous awards: in 2018 he received first prize at the “Jugend Jazzt Solo” and first place at the “Bechstein Piano Competition” in Berlin. Together with his trio, he was awarded the “Concert Prize of the Jazzopen Stuttgart” and the “Förderpreis of the German Jazz Union”. At the beginning of 2020, his trio also received the “Mitteldeutschen Jazzpreis” (Middle German Jazz Prize), and in September this year he won first place at the “International Jazzhaus Piano Competition” in Freiburg. The ACT release “Bewegtes Feld” in June 2021 is his debut album with his traditional trio, with Henri Reichmann (drums) and Josef Ziemetz (bass).

(text: Vincent Meissner)