| Teaching team: |
Franzi Aller plays double bass and electric bass. In recent years, she has played in a wide variety of formations - from the jazz quartet with Tony Lakatos to the experimental indie jazz-rock band Conic Rose and orchestral formations. She completed her A-levels in guitar at the Landesmusikgymnasium Montabaur. She then studied at the Mainz University of Music, including composition with Jesse Milliner. She has been a member of the Stegreif Orchestra since 2019 and has performed in various line-ups in numerous studio productions and concerts, both as a bassist and as a composer and arranger of her own works.
Ulf Kleiner has been playing the piano since he could think and walk. Growing up in the Wagner city of Bayreuth, he had his father's jazz record collection at his side as an alternative guide. After studying at the University of Mainz, he remained loyal to the HFM and the city - now himself a lecturer in jazz piano. He plays with Fola Dada, DePhazz, Joo Kraus and works with Jeff Cascaro, HR Bigband, Charlie Nariano, Ian Pooley and many others.
He is the producer of various albums, currently the albums by Fola Dada and Caro Trischler, both of which will be released in 2025. Ulf Kleiner's first piano album ‘PIANOSKOP’ was released in March 2020.
Thomas Sauerborn is a Cologne-based drummer, composer and bandleader, as well as a lecturer in jazz percussion at the Hochschule für Musik in Mainz. He studied at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam (CvA), the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne (HfMT) and the Rytmisk Musikkonservatorium (RMC) in Copenhagen. His artistic work combines a deep passion for improvisation with the exploration of new sound worlds, for example in his first solo album [zimbel] (2024), which he presented at the Cologne Jazzweek 2024. In addition to his debut album KYIWI (2021), he is co-founder of the Anunaki Tabla label and active in projects such as Das Ende der Liebe, Mount Meander and Trio Pollon. Sauerborn is an integral part of the German jazz and improvisation scene and has performed all over the world.
Alexander Gelhausen studied music and art education at the University of Cologne and jazz singing at the Cologne University of Music and Dance. He has been teaching at the Mainz University of Music since 2001 and has been head of the vocal department in the jazz and popular music department since 2010. In 2020, he was awarded the honorary title of ‘Associate Professor’ by the President of Johannes Gutenberg University in recognition of his achievements.
Alexander Gelhausen has been singing for many years in various formations from duos to quartets, big bands and the WDR radio orchestra. He also works as a speaker, gives workshops and lectures on topics such as voice training, vocal expression, vocal vibrato techniques, rhythm training and vocal improvisation, including at the Landesmusikakademie Rheinland-Pfalz.
Thomas Bachmann is a qualified saxophonist and music teacher.
In 1993, he received the ‘Förderpreis Musik’ (Music Promotion Prize) at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz. He has been a teacher there since 1995, teaching jazz saxophone, improvisation and ensemble playing. In 1997, Bachmann studied in David Liebman's ‘Saxophone Masterclass’ in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, USA. For over 20 years, he has been giving concerts with his own band, the Thomas Bachmann Group, and is a sideman in the Frankfurt Jazz Big Band and the Bob Degen Quartet, among others. From 1998 to 2006, Bachmann played in productions and concerts with the hr Big Band.
Carlotta Armbruster is a trombonist and bandleader and an integral part of the Cologne jazz scene. After preliminary studies at the HMdK Stuttgart with Johannes Lauer and winning the main prize at the national competition ‘Jugend jazzt’ in 2022, she began her bachelor's degree at the HfMT Cologne with Shannon Barnett, Niels Klein and Robert Landfermann. She plays concerts with her own projects, but is also active in numerous other formations such as the Samuel Restle Big Band and the Nico Klöffer Trio. Her stylistic spectrum ranges from freely improvised music to trio line-ups to large ensembles and big bands. From 2023-2024, she was a member of the German National Youth Jazz Orchestra and, in 2023, the Euroradio Jazz Orchestra, with which she toured Lithuania. She has also played concerts with the HR and WDR Big Bands, at festivals such as Cologne Jazz Week and in countries such as Ecuador and Montenegro.
Organisation and implementation: Niklas Schumacher
Niklas Schumacher studied double bass, electric bass and tuba at the Mainz University of Music, where he is currently completing his Master's degree in music. He primarily plays with the Frankfurt Jazz Collective FÄZZ, the German-Turkish rock band Ahtapot and his own jazz trio AZURIA. He also teaches privately and at the Peter Cornelius Conservatory in Mainz.
Artistic Director: Marc Muellbauer
Born in London and now living in Berlin, Marc Muellbauer is a bassist, composer and bandleader. His musical career ranges from contemporary jazz with the Julia Hülsmann Quartet and Trio, the Eva Klesse Quartet, the Wood & Steel Trio and the Lisbeth Quartet to electronic music with Moritz v. Oswald, studio work for film music, collaborations with singer-songwriters and contemporary classical music. In recent years, he has also devoted himself increasingly to recording and mixing his own music and other jazz projects. Muellbauer is a passionate composer and is involved not only in the quartet, but also in the Julia Hülsmann Trio, his nine-piece band Marc Muellbauer's Kaleidoscope and the Wood and Steel Trio. In 2025, he released ‘Under The Surface’ with the Julia Hülsmann Quartet, his ninth recording on the Munich label ECM. The previous album, ‘The Next Door,’ earned the band the prestigious German Jazz Award for Instrumental Album of the Year 2021. Muellbauer is currently professor of jazz double bass at the Mainz University of Music and is the artistic director of the Jazz Summer School.         |
Landesmusikakademie
