The Pharos Arts Foundation, in collaboration with the Goethe Institut Zypern, will present a jazz concert by the award-winning Anke Helfrich Trio on Saturday at the Shoe Factory in Nicosia.
The Anke Helfrich Trio are the renowned jazz pianist Anke Helfrich – winner of the Echo Jazz Award 2016 in the Instrumentalist – Piano category, Dietmar Fuhr on bass and Paul Hochstadter on drums.
Helfrich is one of the leading jazz pianists in Germany today. She studied in the Netherlands and New York, under the guidance of Kenny Barron and Larry Goldings. She has collaborated with a great number of legendary jazz musicians, including Johnny Griffin, Benny Bailey, Gianni Basso, Keith Copeland, Nils Landgren, Ack van Rooyen and Peter Weniger.
The pianist’s big break came when her Trio, with bassist Johannes Weidenmueller and drummer Jochen Rueckert, won the European Jazz Competition in 1996 and the Hennessy Jazz Search in 1998.
In 2000 she released her debut album You’ll See featuring Mark Turner on tenor sax, which was nominated for the German Record Critics’ Award. In 2003, she received the Jazz Award of the city of Worms, and in 2006 she released her second CD Better Times Ahead featuring Martin Gjakonovski (bass), Dejan Terzic (drums) and special guest Roy Hargrove (trumpet). The CD received rave reviews from the media all over Europe and the US and was also nominated for the German Record Critics’ Award. In 2007, Anke performed at the Kennedy Centre in Washington DC, being one of the five finalists of the ML Williams Competition. She was also a finalist in the jazz category of the International Songwriting Competition, with her composition Der Turm and she appeared as a soloist in concerts all over the world.
Helfrich’s third CD ‘Stormproof’ was released by the renowned Enja Records label, featuring Henning Sieverts (bass), Dejan Terzic (drums) and special guest Nils Wogram (trombone). From then onwards her career really took off and together with the band of Manu Katche, Anke Helfrich’s Trio played a tour of 14 double-bill concerts in Germany’s most prestigious venues such as Leipzig’s Gewandhaus, Berlin’s Philharmonie, Dortmund’s Konzerthaus, Stuttgart’s Theaterhaus, and subsequently toured in South Africa.
The pianist has appeared in festivals all over the world, including JazzBaltica, Bonner Klaviersommer, Off-Stage-Piano-Festival Lucerne, Jazzhus Montmartre, Palatia Jazz Festival, Jazz Ahead Exhibition and she has collaborated with renowned musicians including Bill Evans and the Mike Stern Band, the JazzBaltica Ensemble, the Diva Jazz Orchestra, the HR-Jazzensemble, Adrian Mears, Mads Vinding, Niclas Campagnol, Rita Marcotulli and Julia Hülsmann to name but a few.
Helfrich was part of the Michel Legrand Tribute at Stockholm’s Concert Hall, playing with the BHJ All Star Orchestra and Dalasinfoniettan featuring Rigmor Gustafsson.
In 2015, Helfrich recorded her fourth album in New York with Tim Hagans, Martin Wind, Jonas Burgwinkel and Ardie Walser. The new album ‘Dedication’ was released by Enja records and received enthusiastic reviews from all over the world.
Besides her busy performing career, Anke Helfrich is also a keen educator. Between 1999 and 2014 she was a faculty member at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Mannheim and since 2011 she has been a professor at Dr Hoch’s Conservatory in Frankfurt. She has also been giving workshops all over Europe.
Anke Helfrich Trio
The Pharos Art Foundation presents a performance by the trio. December 10. The Shoe Factory, Nicosia. 8.30pm. €15/10. Tel: 22-663871
