Born 1996, Markus Neuwirth received his first piano lessons at the age of six. After truly finding his passion for music at the age of sixteen, he fully immersed himself in the worlds of jazz, classical music, metal and film music as well as devoting his time to serious study of the instrument.
Consequentially, he enrolled for studies in jazz piano performance at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz with Prof. Olaf Polziehn in 2014, where he completed both his Bachelor’s degree (2019) and Master’s degree (2022) with distinction. During this time, he also had the opportunity to take lessons in composition with Prof. Michael Abene and Johannes Berauer, as well as to attend workshops with Jim McNeely, John Hollenbeck, Jörg-Achim Keller, Carla Bley, Steve Swallow, Harold Mabern, Gary Versace and Gwilym Simcock. Starting 2022, he will pursue Master’s studies in jazz composition and arrangement with Prof. Ed Partyka.
As a composer, he was awarded third place at Jazzcomp Graz 2020, a triennial competition for contemporary big band composition.
Both his playing and writing are characterized by the desire to create a synthesis of stylistic elements stemming from his broad musical interests, yet an avoidance to create exact style copies. Active primarily in contemporary jazz, he explores the worlds of jazz tradition, classical music and metal as well. This has led him to perform in and write for various projects ranging from duos to big bands, such as Tales of Collapse, High Touring Collective, Lilac and NE|ƎИ.
