Martin Schlumpf (b. 1947) was born in the Swiss town of Aarau, where he was raised and educated through his high school graduation in 1966. During these years, he played double bass in various jazz groups, along with studying classical cello. Schlumpf also began writing essays on composition during this time, beginning with his discovery of the music of Austrian composer Anton Webern.

In 1968, Schlumpf moved to Zurich to study clarinet, piano, conducting, theory and composition. He received a teaching certificate in piano with Warren Thew in 1971, and completed his degree in music theory with Rudolf Kelterborn in 1972. Further studies in composition took him to Boris Blacher in Berlin in 1974. Since 1977 Schlumpf has been professor of music theory at the Zurich University of the Arts, where he has also taught group improvisation since 1991.

Until 1980, Schlumpf was mainly active as a composer of contemporary art music, winning awards at the Zurich Competition (first prize, 1972 and 1979) and the Tonhalle Competition (1975), among others. Beginning in 1980 he returned to improvised music and started playing in a number of his own groups at first as a bass player in Trio 80, then as a bass clarinetist in his eleven-piece band Swiss Fusion 84, as well as the sextet Die Vögel, and especially Bermuda Viereck. Schlumpf has also taken part in other projects, including John Tchicai and Cadavre Exquis Orchestras, film and theater music projects, and cabarets.

Since the late 1980s, Schlumpf has been widely active in the borderlands between improvisation and composition. He has placed increasing emphasis on his work as a composer in a new post-modern style. Beginning in 1999, Schlumpf’s interests increasingly incorporated the computer in his compositions with the aim of obtaining a larger range of timbres and complex polymetrical structures. In 1999 he was commissioned by the Zurich Musikhochschule to arrange several of Conlon Nancarrow’s “Studies” for computer sounds.

Albums

PARMA Music Festival Live 2013

Release Date: April 1, 2014
Catalog Number: NV5950
21st Century
Jazz
Orchestral
Cello
Electronic
Orchestra
10 concerts, 7 venues, 3 days. The inaugural PARMA Music Festival in 2013 featured more than 100 composers and performers in works for orchestra, chamber ensembles, solo instruments, and jazz groups, as well as improvised collaborations between indie rockers and classical instrumentalists. This release collects some of the finest performances from the Festival, as recorded by the PARMA Recordings production team.

The PARMA Sessions: Karolina Rojahn

Release Date: August 1, 2013
Catalog Number: NV5925
21st Century
Chamber
Solo Instrumental
Orchestra
Piano
Piano Trio
THE PARMA SESSIONS: KAROLINA ROJAHN presents a series of recordings featuring longtime PARMA collaborator and pianist Karolina Rojahn. Showcasing the artist's skill, adaptability, and dedication, this digital compilation features Rojahn performing works by a diverse set of composers with myriad influences and styles.

Streams

Release Date: August 1, 2013
Catalog Number: NV5918
21st Century
Concertos
Large Ensemble
Piano
Since the late 1980s, Swiss Composer Schlumpf has been widely active in the borderlands between improvisation and composition. With STREAMS, the follow-up to his 2012 Navona Records release SUMMER CIRCLE, Schlumpf presents three concertos that are representative of a creative period in his career marked by the influence of minimalism and jazz, new tonal concepts, a strong emphasis on rhythm, and clear-cut formal designs.

Summer Circle

Release Date: May 1, 2012
Catalog Number: NV5873
21st Century
Chamber
Solo Instrumental
Piano
Piano Trio
String Quartet
Swiss composer Martin Schlumpf is a man of many talents. From his early practice of jazz bass and classical cello to academic writings on composition to formal education on clarinet, piano, conducting, theory, and composition-not to mention the decades of experience as a perform across a variety of genre - Schlumpf proves that the jack of all trades can be the master, as well. With SUMMER CIRCLE, Schlumpf combines his myriad influences to craft expressive, complex chamber pieces that marry the sophisticated intricacies of jazz with the studied nuance of modern classical.