Analog synthesizer improvisations and a rare solo appearance by the Cologne-based musician.

Thomas Lehn (b.1958, Fröndenberg, Germany) studied recording engineering and piano at the Music Academy of Detmold, classical piano at the Music Academy of Cologne, and jazz piano with Frank Wunsch and Francis Coppieters. In the 1980s he took part on courses of Studio for pianistic interpretation held by Prof. Jürgen Uhde. Since that time he has been active as a performer of both contemporary music and classical piano repertoire. For the past twenty years, his major and widely known work has been performing and producing live-electronic music. Rooted in the experience of a wide spectrum of musical fields and based on his background as a pianist, he has developed an individual ‘language’ of electronic music. The electronic equipment he uses consists of analog synthesizers from the late 1960s, particularly the EMS Synthi A. The specific character of this modular instrument allows him to spontaneously act and react in close contact with the various structural degrees of the musical process. In addition to his duo with Marcus Schmickler, ensemble work includes Gerry Hemingway, Günter Christmann, Eugene Chadbourne, Paul Lovens, Raymond Strid, and trio Konk Pack with Tim Hodgkinson and Roger Turner.

Support provided by the Goethe-Institut Chicago