Kristina Kanders


Kristina Kanders is a German visual artist and musician.

Background

Kristina Kanders is a daughter of German soprano Agnes Giebel. During her school years she concentrated on painting. Only at age 20 she began playing drums. In 1987 she moved to New York City to study. She studied among others with Ron Carter, Jimmy Heath, Kenwood Dennard, Jojo Mayer, Bernard Purdie, Kenny Werner and Jim Hall. From 1994 to 2005 Kanders taught at New School University.
In her New York years 1987 - 2005 Kanders performed in numerous concerts, festivals and radio broadcasts in the USA and Europe, among others with Cyro Baptista's Beat the Donkey, her own group Sambanditos, Kit McClure Big Band, Joe McGinty, Huevos Rancheiros, Boo Trundle, Maria Excommunikata.
2005 Kanders returned to Cologne and produced her own music. 2006-2009 she performed frequently on drums with Frank Köllges' Missiles Orchestra. She released two solo albums "For All People" and "Say Something" and several original music videos on YouTube.
Since 2012, the emphasis of her work has shifted entirely to visual arts.

Exhibitions and Festivals

1988 Pori Jazz Festival with Sambanditos
1992 - 2002 Concerts with Sambanditos/NYC at Madison Square Garden, MOMA, United Nations, Lincoln Center and many more
1995 Modern Drummer Festival with Kenwood Dennard
1998 - 2002 Festivals with Cyro Baptista's Beat the Donkey, among others at Big Bang Percussion Festival in Belgium and Holland, Guimaraes Jazz Festival, Guggenheim Museum, NY Stock Exchange and many more
2000 Willisau Jazz Festival with Cyro Baptista's Beat the Donkey
2009 The Dome 51, Lanxess Arena Cologne, playing drums for Emiliana Torrini
2015 Frauenmuseum Bonn, 25. Art Fair, C
2016 Frauenmuseum Bonn, Work and Women, annual exhibition, C
2017 NordArt Büdelsdorf, C
2018 Die Große Kunstausstellung NRW, C

Discography