About

photo: Niklas Wagenbrenner
photo: Niklas Wagenbrenner

 

 

 
Born in 2000, pianist Vincent Meissner is considered one of the most promising emerging talents in the German jazz scene. Growing up in a village in Central Saxony, he discovered his instrument early and found jazz to be his passion, which would become his life goal.

At the age of sixteen, he moved to Dresden to attend the State Gymnasium for Music, where he continued to fuel the fire of his passion with constant discoveries. His influences evolved from Andrew Hill, Gerri Allen, and Marylin Crispell to Craig Taborn, Vijay Iyer, Kris Davis to German jazz pianists like Pablo Held, Achim Kaufmann, and Joachim Kühn.

For Vincent Meissner, the journey was the destination. He remains a seeker and explorer, delving into contemporary piano music as well. Since 2019, he has been studying in Leipzig at the University of Music and Theatre with Michael Wollny, where he currently resides and works.

In his young career, he has already received numerous accolades. In 2018, he won first place at "Jugend Jazzt Solo" and the first prize at the "Bechstein Piano Competition" in Berlin. Followed by the first place at the "International Jazzhaus Piano Competition" 2020  and the 1st place at the "Langnau Jazz Piano Competition" 2022.

 With his trio, he was awarded the “Konzertpreis der Jazzopen Stuttgart” and the “Förderpreis der deutschen Jazzunion” in 2019. In early 2020, they also received the first-ever "Mitteldeutscher Jazzpreis" followed by 1st place at the "Junger Münchner Jazzpreis" in 2021, the 1st place at the "Biberach Jazzpreis" 2022 and the 1st place at the "Future Sounds Jazz Award" in 2023

 "A new hope in German jazz" was German broadcaster MDR Kulturs verdict on Vincent Meissner's debut album "Bewegtes Feld" (2021). Deutschlandfunk went further, predicting that his band “will take off like a rocket." Downbeat (US) wrote of an "excitement” running through the album.