High honor for HfMT jazz musicians
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Konstantin Reinfeld, Dr. Langner Jazz Master student at the HfMT, has won the Opus Klassik 2019 in the category Young Artist Instrument Harmonica - With ZDF interview
The awards ceremony took place on Sunday, October 13, , 2019, at the Konzerthaus Berlin. It was hosted by Thomas Gottschalk and broadcast that evening on ZDF. Together with his pianist Benyamin Nuss , Konstantin was the only artist in the “Up-and-Coming Artists” category to perform. Here’s the backstage interview after the show.
Anyone who wants to see Konstantin Reinfeld perform live can do so on October 30 : At his invitation, harmonica virtuoso Howard Levy will be coming to the Hamburg University of Music and Drama as an artist-in-residence to kick off his European tour and will give a concert at the Theater im Zimmer with the most sought-after musicians from Hamburg’s jazz scene.
The OPUS KLASSIK is the new award for classical music in Germany. The goal of the Association for the Promotion of Classical Music e. V.—the organizer of Germany’s most important classical music award—is to promote classical music and, in particular, to honor its artists. A jury of experts, composed of representatives from the music and media industries, honors 46 award winners in 24 categories.
Biography
Konstantin Reinfeld was already making waves in the jazz world as a teenager. When you listen to him play the harmonica—without seeing the 21-year-old—you’d think you were listening to an experienced jazz musician who’s been honing his craft for decades. His chromatic playing on diatonic Hohner harmonicas sounds technically and emotionally mature. This is all the more impressive given that Konstantin has only been playing the harmonica for a few years.
At his first live performance as part of the 2010 Frankfurt Music Fair, Konstantin already caused quite a stir. At the invitation of the internationally renowned blues harp player Steve Baker, he participated for the first time as a scholarship recipient in the “Harmonica Masters Workshops 2010” in Trossingen as a scholarship recipient, where Hohner also took notice of Konstantin’s talent and added the “German prodigy” to its roster as its youngest endorser. After teaching himself to play, Konstantin’s love of improvisation grew so strongly that in 2011 he decided to enroll in the “Howard Levy Harmonica School.”
In 2012, at the studios of the legendary Peer Music publishing house in Hamburg-Winterhude, he recorded the highly acclaimed jazz album “Mr. Quilento,” featuring numerous original compositions, was recorded in 2012 at the studios of the legendary Peer Music publishing house in Hamburg-Winterhude with pianist and producer Christoph Spangenberg; the album was released in 2013 under the “Hohner Masters Of The Harmonica” label and distributed by Membran/Sony Music.
Konstantin also recorded his second album, *ALGIEDI*, with his band “Mr. Quilento” at Peer Studios. In doing so, this promising artist demonstrates once again that his own compositions transcend the boundaries between musical genres. He explores new musical territories—not just for the diatonic instrument.
Since recording his debut album, Konstantin has become one of the most sought-after harmonica players worldwide and performs with his band Mr. Quilento on Germany’s most prestigious jazz stages.
As a soloist and instructor, he also performs at national and international harmonica festivals (World Harmonica Festival, Seoul International Harmonica Festival, Bristol NHL Festival, Pärnu Harmonica Festival, Harmonica Bridge Festival Torun, and many more) and is billed as one of the world’s best jazz players on the diatonic harmonica for the gala concert of the 2013 World Harmonica Festival in Trossingen.
He is currently working on two duo projects. On one hand, he is recording an album full of jazz standards with Christoph Spangenberg, and on the other, he is showcasing the unexpected possibilities of the harmonica in classical music and film scores with Benyamin Nuss.