“Throughout the entire evening, Gees played as though he were the creator of the compositions, making sure that everything would come together as he had envisaged it. His eyes were not just those of a reproducing artist, but the flaring ones of one who is on fire, as we imagine a creative composer.”
N. Campogrande
Aged three, the piano is his favourite toy; from the age of five he receives formal lessons; aged eight, he wins the Steinway Competition as well as a scholarship enabling him to study at the Salzburg Mozarteum.
Hailed as the “Westphalian Mozart”, he trains at the Vienna and Detmold conservatoires and it seems as though nothing can stand in the way of a career as a pianist. The talented child, however, doesn’t want to be limited to technical exercises but instead longs to explore the world of sounds on his own terms, rediscovering it again and again, note by note.
At the age of fifteen, the “prodigy” flees the pressures of his predestined career, leaving behind his school, conservatoire and home, earning a living through odd jobs, as an archaeological assistant, and also by going to sea for two years.
In 1974, he is unexpectedly offered a place to study at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hanover. He develops his pianistic talent individually, composes and gains international renown as a first-class lieder accompanist, performing across the globe.
Through his playing he revives the long-forgotten tradition of using the work as an opportunity for extemporisation.
He goes on to found the Consol Theater which opens in 2001: here, children, teenagers and adults are encouraged and inspired to discover and realise their own creative impulses.
His own Forum Kunstvereint, alongside CPO and EMI, have issued numerous CDs with Michael Gees. As of 2007, he is associated with Challenge Classics: the recording of Die schöne Müllerin with Christoph Prégardien wins the 2009 MIDEM Classical Award and also Recording of the Year. Releases since then, including song recitals with Julia Kleiter, Anna Lucia Richter and Julian Prégardien, as well as solo recordings ImproviSatie, Beyond Schumann and Bach – Mendelssohn – Adaptations increasingly show Michael Gees in his element, treating the scores creatively.
Michael Gees programmes solo and song recitals between tradition and new ground. He has been teaching Vocal Improvisation and Song Invention at the Cologne Musikhochschule since 2009.