Chris Beier
Chris Beier is a respected German jazz pianist, composer and university lecturer who was initially influenced by classical piano lessons and later studied musicology, American studies and sociology. In the 1970s, he worked with famous musicians such as Tote Blanke and Albert Mangelsdorff and was musical director at the Nuremberg State Theatre from 1979 to 1985. Since 2001, after being diagnosed with focal dystonia, he has retired from active concert life and has headed the jazz department at the University of Music in Würzburg since 1987. He is known for his synthesis of jazz tradition and avant-garde, influenced by McCoy Tyner, Paul Hindemith and George Russel.
