Clemens Christian Poetzsch & Reentko Dirks
Biography Clemens Christian Poetzsch & Reentko Dirks
Clemens Christian Poetzsch
Deep down, pianist Clemens Christian Poetzsch (1985) has always known what music means to him: freedom. Freedom to improvise; freedom to create new worlds of sound; freedom to follow his instincts wherever they may lead him.
The multiple award-winner released his solo piano album ‘People and Places’ in 2016, followed by sold-out concerts in Japan and the UK.
Since 2019, he has been releasing his compositions under the label "Neue Meister/Edel", uniquely blending modern classical, jazz, and electronic music.
His solo albums ‘Remember Tomorrow’, ‘The Soul of Things’ and ‘Chasing Heisenberg’ were subsequently nominated several times for the Music Prize ‘Opus Klassik’ and streamed over 25 million times.
He has also performed as a soloist at numerous festivals worldwide and at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg.
In addition to his solo work, he is involved in numerous productions as a composer, arranger, pianist and producer, some of which have made it into the US Billboard classical charts and received platinum awards.
He also performs as an interpreter of contemporary piano music, such as on the album ‘Clemens Christian Poetzsch plays Sven Helbig’ (2020).
As a member of the band Masaa from 2011 to 2019, he toured Africa, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey on behalf of the Goethe-Institut.
In collaboration with Reentko Dirks, he created the soundtrack for the film ‘National Street’ (based on the bestseller by Jaroslav Rudis), which made it to Number 1 in Czech Cinema Charts.
Clemens Christian Poetzsch has played and shared the stage with artists such as the dogma.chamber.orchestra, Robot Koch, Daniel Hope and the Kammerorchester Berlin and regularly writes music for theatre, ballet and film.
For the Sorbian National Ballet, he composed the full-length ballet score ‘Abschied’ for piano, string quartet, electronics and choir.
Reentko Dirks
is a guitarist, composer and producer who has worked with prestigious ensembles and renowned artists throughout the world. He has written pieces for Cirque du Soleil and Semperoper Dresden, taken to the stage alongside stars including Yo-Yo Ma, Peter Bruns, Ben Becker and accordion virtuoso Ksenija Sidorova, and been invited to perform at legendary venues such as Carnegie Hall, 92Y (both New York), the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam) and Tchaikovsky Concert Hall (Moscow). From 2012 to 2015 he performed with and went on to compose for Giora Feidman. He also composes film music, his most recent project being the Czech blockbuster “Nationalstraße” (based on the bestseller by Jaroslav Rudiš; music composed in collaboration with pianist Clemens Christian Pötzsch).
Reentko has been a member of the European Guitar Quartet since 2012 and joined Masaa – winner of the German Jazz Award 2021.
In 2021 he and Turkish guitarist Erkin Cavus released their highly anticipated new album “Istanbul 1900”, which was even able to enter the charts in some countries.
Inspired by his intensive study of not only flamenco but also non-European and particularly Arabian music, Reentko’s unorthodox playing style blends a variety of genres, cultures and timbres to create an unconventional sound that has earned him multiple international prizes.
Reentko Dirks (born 1979 in Bad Gandersheim) studied Acoustic Guitar under Professor Thomas Fellow at the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber in Dresden before himself taking a teaching role at the school. He has initiated and participated in a broad range of artistic projects, with prize-winning examples including guitar duo “Dirks und Wirtz” (2006 European Guitar Award) and “Annamateur und Außensaiter” (2008 German Cabaret Prize). His role in the Grimme Prize-nominated television programme “Zärtlichkeiten im Bus” involved collaborations with leading pop acts such as Bosse, Max Mutzke, Samy Deluxe, Yvonne Catterfeld, Enno Bunger and Andreas Bourani.
Reentko and the drummer and percussionist Demian Kappenstein have made their sing-along format “Betreutes Singen” (literally “Sheltered Singing”) a sell-out success at the Scheune club in Dresden. Since 2020 their infectious live show has been a regular feature of the city’s major season of open-air cultural events “Filmnächte am Elbufer”. It is the perfect opportunity for Reentko to showcase his encyclopaedic musical knowledge, and in particular his ability to immediately break into any song from throughout the history of rock and pop.
