Andreas Klein is a German-born classical pianist, pedagogue, and recording engineer/producer for classical music.
Background
Klein was born in Berlin, Germany, and was a high school student at the Evangelisches Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster. His first piano teacher was Elisabeth Dounias-Sindermann who provided opportunities for him to perform in the annual Steinway Piano Competition in Berlin and in major halls in his native city, such as Hochschule für Musik and Philharmonie. During 1956 and 1966 Klein was awarded many first prizes the Steinway Piano Competitions in his age group. In 1963 he performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto N.3 with the Berlin Sinfonisches Orchester at the Hochschule für Musik, and in 1967 he presented his first solo recital at the same venue performing, among other works, Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. In 1970 he attended a 2-week seminar of pianist Nikita Magaloff at the Geneva Conservatory, Switzerland. In 1972, Klein came to New York to study at the famous Juilliard School and graduated with Postgraduate Diploma in 1974. During this year, his first album with the 24 Preludes, opus 28, by Frederic Chopin was published by the Apollo label. In 1975 he made his New York debut at Carnegie Recital Hall after which Allen Hughes of the New York Times commented: “…his technical skills, musical authority and interpretive intensity made his performances compelling at all times, and he seemed well on the way to artistic maturity”.
Career
Klein was piano faculty member of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, between 1981 and 1985, and moved to Houston, Texas, in 1986 to enroll at the Shepherd School of Music, Rice University, towards studying for the doctoral degree as student of John Perry. In 1989, Klein wrote his dissertation, The Chopin Etudes: an indispensable pedagogical tool for developing piano technique, and was awarded the Doctoral of Musical Art degree. Having shown great interest for recording technology, Klein began recording concerts and other artists and ensembles in halls since 1987 when he started an independent audio recording service, Ultimo Productions. He performed Mozart’s Concerto KV415 and the string orchestra version of Beethoven Concerto No.4 with the Salzburg Chamber Soloists throughout the US and in Mexico. Highlights of the 20 city tour included appearances at Stanford University; Tuckerman Hall in Worcester, MA; Newman Center in Denver; Touhill Performing Arts Center in St. Louis; and in Sala Nezahuolkoyotl and the Festival de Mexico en el Centro Historico, Mexico City. Highlights from recent seasons include orchestra appearances at the Chautauqua Festiva l and the Most Arts Festival and as soloist performing Bach Concerto BWV1052 in a program, Homage to Glenn Gould, with the Minguet String Quartet on their US and Canada Tour. Andreas Klein has appeared on WGBH Boston, APR in St. Paul, WFMT Chicago and KUHF in Houston. His recital at the LA County Museum in Los Angeles was broadcast live. He was the subject of a “Musicians Portrait” in Germany and "Intermezzo with Andreas Klein" was televised by PBS.
