BIOGRAPHY
Sebastian Manz, international soloist, chamber musician and Principal Clarinettist of the SWR Symphony Orchestra, had his big breakthrough in 2008 when he won first prize in the clarinet category of the ARD International Music Competition in Munich. During the preceding 40 years the first prize had not been awarded in this section; Sebastian Manz was also awarded the coveted audience prize and further special prizes. Previously he had also won the German Music Competition together with his piano partner Martin Klett. Sebastian subsequently received the "Echo Klassik" prize three times for outstanding CD recordings, as well as the sought-after Emerging Artist Award in New York. For his album A Bernstein Story, which was released in 2019, he received the "Opus Klassik" award in the category "Classic without Borders" in October 2020.
In addition to solo engagements throughout Europe (including with the Robert-Schumann-Philharmonie and the Sinfonierorchester Liechtenstein), he will be a guest of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in the USA several times in the 2024/2025 season. Some of his arrangements will also be performed as part of these guest appearances. With his chamber music partners Franziska Hölscher, Felix Klieser, Lionel Martin, Dag Jensen, Wen Xiao Zheng, Haesue Lee, Andrei Ioniță and Dominik Wagner, he will be performing with the Beethoven Septet at numerous venues. With ensembles such as the Amaryllis Quartet and his long-standing musical partners Danae Dörken, Herbert Schuch, Maximilian Hornung, Martin Klett and Sebastian Studnitzky, Sebastian Manz is a welcome guest at renowned concert venues. He will perform at the TivoliVredenburg, Bergson Kunstkraftwerk, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and the Bremer Sendesaal, as well as at various festivals such as Music@Menlo in California and the Klosterkonzerte Maulbronn.
Sebastian Manz’ enthusiasm for arranging and composing is reflected in his concert programmes and in his discography, which has won numerous awards. His CD A Bernstein Story (Berlin Classics), a collaboration with the jazz musician Sebastian Studnitzky containing arrangements and original compositions by both musicians, was released in August 2019 and has been well received in classical and jazz circles alike. The newspaper Mannheimer Morgen described the album as “a bubbling laboratory with musically highly inspiring experiments” and praised it as “limitless listening pleasure”. In May 2020 the CD Father Copland with the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn under Case Scaglione was released by Berlin Classics. In September 2020, the same label released his album of clarinet concertos by Carl Nielsen and Magnus Lindberg, which garnered enthusiastic reviews. In this recording the composer Magnus Lindberg conducts his concerto himself. Sebastian’s most recent CD features a recital programme together with the pianist Herbert Schuch of works by Johannes Brahms and Robert Schumann. It was released on the Berlin Classics label in spring 2022.
Sebastian Manz was born in Hanover in 1986 as the son of two pianists and as the grandson of the violinist Boris Goldstein, who hailed from Odessa. His German-Russian family home thus offered fertile soil for his musical roots. Sebastian joined a boys' choir at the age of six and started learning the piano early on, but soon decided to concentrate on the clarinet. He has been fascinated by the instrument ever since having heard Benny Goodman's recording of Carl Maria von Weber's E flat major Concerto. Among his most important teachers and supporters were none other than Sabine Meyer and Rainer Wehle.
Status: September 2024
Changes and alterations require prior consultation with Grunau & Paulus Music Management.
Sebastian Manz & Herbert Schuch: Brahms - Schumann - Gade (Official Trailer)
Sebastian Manz & Herbert Schuch - Gade - Fantasy Pieces, Op. 43: No. 2, Allegro vivace
Nielsen & Lindberg Clarinet Concertos - ALBUM TRAILER (2020) | Sebastian Manz | Berlin Classics
Sebastian Manz - Nielsen: Clarinet Concerto, Op. 57: III. Allegro vivace (Official Music Video)
Sebastian Manz - A Bernstein Story (Trailer)
Prelude, Loops and Riffs - Sebastian Manz & STUDNITZKY (Official Music Video) | Jam Session
Carl Maria von Weber | Complete Works for Clarinet | Sebastian Manz | ALBUM Trailer
George Gershwin | Promenade - Walking The Dog (1937) I Sebastian Manz & Friends
Sebastian Manz & Herbert Schuch - Brahms, Schumann, Gade
On his latest album "Brahms, Schumann, Gade" clarinet virtuoso Sebastian Manz devotes himself to three absolute opera magna of the clarinet repertoire. The focus on the chamber music core repertoire makes this album project clearly stand out from the artist's previous discography Discography of the artist. Without distractions or programmatic embellishments, Sebastian Manz completely serves the artistic content of these timeless masterpieces in this album.
Label: Berlin Classics
Release: 13.05.2022
Sebastian Manz - Clarinet Concertos
On his new album, Sebastian Manz explores the clarinet concertos of Danish composer Carl Nielsen and Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg. Both are known for creating overwhelming, abstract sound structures that make the nature of their home countries appear like a sound painting before their listeners. Sebastian Manz, together with the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken-Kaiserslautern, presents three works that transport listeners to Nordic landscapes and paint audible sound pictures despite their musical complexity. A must not only for listeners of sophisticated music!
Label: Berlin Classics
Release: 04.09.2020
Father Copland
Works by Aaron Copland: Appalachian Spring Suite for 13 instruments; Quiet City Suite for cor anglais, trumpet and strings; Concerto for clarinet and string orchestra with harp and piano.
Artists: Sebastian Manz, Celine Moinet, Wolfgang Bauer, Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn, Case Scaglione.
Label: Berlin Classics
Release: 15.05.2020
Studnitzky - Manz: A Bernstein Story
Both were aware from the outset that the project was something special. "Daring - of course. But I think the way we constructed it is unique," says Manz. Bernstein's clarinet sonata forms the basis. Studnitzky's task was to make the whole thing a little more straightforward: "With what Bernstein uses in four or five bars, we jazz musicians can make half an hour of music". The two musicians also used elements from Prelude, Fugue and Riffs from Bernstein's works for big band, in which he uses the clarinet as a soloist. Igor Stravinsky as an influence on Bernstein and Steve Reich as a pioneer of musical minimalism also shed light on the grand master. It is not only the musical approach that deviates from the usual industry convention.
Label: Berlin Classics
LC: LC06203
Distribution: Edel:Kultur
EAN: 0885470011097
Release: 23.08.2019
Variation5
Works by: Malcolm Arnold, Jean Françaix, Paul Hindemith, Carl Nielsen
With Magali Mosnier, Sebastian Manz, Ramón Ortega Quero, Marc Trénel & David Fernandez Alonso.
Label: Berlin Classics
Release: 30.06.2017
Sebastian Manz - Carl Maria Von Weber: Complete Works for Clarinet (Kopie)
After years of exploring the clarinet works of Carl Maria von Weber, Sebastian Manz, winner of the ARD Competition and principal clarinettist of the SWR Symphony Orchestra, has now reached a temporary high point in his musical career: a complete recording of these works on a double album. Weber left behind some of the most important works for clarinet - Manz plays them in his very own way.
Clarinet Concertos Nos. 1 & 2; Concertino in E flat major op. 26 for clarinet & orchestra; Grand Duo concertant in E flat major op. 48; Silvana Variations in B flat major op. 33.
Artists: Sebastian Manz, Martin Klett, Casal Quartet, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Antonio Mendez.
Label: Berlin Classics
Release: 03.02.2017
Fuchs & Brahms: Clarinet Quintets
On 15 October 1895, Johann Strauss celebrated his 50th anniversary on the stage. Among the first guests to pay him their respects in Vienna's Igelgasse 4 was Johannes Brahms, a great admirer of the Waltz King. However, it is possible that his interest was not exclusively focussed on the jubilarian, but also on a composition written especially for the occasion: the fifth serenade by Robert Fuchs, a cheerful work with quotations from "Die Fledermaus". Like Brahms, Fuchs assigned the clarinet the role of "prima inter pares". In the first movement, which exudes a beguiling Viennese charm reminiscent of Schubert, two lyrical themes are linked by a concise transitional idea.
Performers: Sebastian Manz, The Danish String Quartet
Label: Avi-records
Release: 14.03.2014
In Rhythm
Contributors: Sebastian Manz, Martin Klett
Works by: G. Gershwin, S. Reich, A. Piazzolla, A. Copland, A. Templeton, H. Villa-Lobos, L. Bernstein, D Milhaud.
Label: Avi records
Release: 15.03.2013
Mozart & Beethoven
Contributors: Sebastian Manz, Herbert Schuch, Ramón Ortega Quero, Marc Trénel, David Fernández Alonso.
Works by: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Ludwig van Beethoven.
Label: Indésens
Release: 30.01.2012
Westerhoff: Symphony – Clarinet Concerto – Double Concerto
Performers: Sebastian Manz, Albrecht Holder, Osnabrücker Symphonieorchester, Hermann Bäumer (conductor).
Works by: Christian Wilhelm Westerhoff
Label: CPO
Release: 23.5.2012
Mann: Clarinet Concerto – Violin Concerto – Festpräludium – Troiseme Suite
Performers: Sebastian Manz, Akiko Amada, Osnabrück Symphony Orchestra, Hermann Bäumer (conductor).
Works by: Gottfried Hendrik Mann.
Label: cpo
Release: 11.12.2012
DUO RIUL – Works for Clarinet and Piano
Contributors: Sebastian Manz, Martin Klett.
Works by: Johannes Brahms, Alban Berg, Claude Debussy, Witold Lutoslawski, I-sang Yun.
Label: GENUIN
Release: 18.2.2011
Mozart, Glière, Korngold
Performers: Symphonierorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Cornelius Meister (conductor), Sebastian Manz.
Works by: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Label: BR Klassik
Release: 14.06.2010