18.08.2025 / 19:00 Uhr

Johanna Summer



Resonances - Piano Solo



The emergence of young pianist Johanna Summer in 2020 was something truly special. It almost seemed as if some of her prominent colleagues had lined up in a kind of competition of superlatives for this musician, born in 1995 and raised in the small German town of Plauen. Around that time, she had just released her album Schumann Kaleidoskop, in which she explored, refracted, and reimagined the spirit and fragments of Robert Schumann’s music.

Igor Levit described her as “an outstanding jazz pianist. She is so centered and self-assured, handling material with freedom and confidence, all while maintaining her own unique voice.” Malakoff Kowalski called it “scandalously good!” and Joachim Kühn marveled at music “full of imagination and beyond categorization. Coming from classical roots, she creates something entirely her own.”

It’s precisely this sense of individuality that defines her work. Until the age of sixteen, she focused exclusively on classical music. Then she studied jazz piano in Dresden and, through the legendary drummer Günter Baby Sommer, developed a deep appreciation for improvisation. This perfectly matched a defining trait of hers: the courage and curiosity to explore things she had yet to master.

From then on, Johanna Summer focused on filtering the flood of information that often overwhelms her generation, keeping only what truly matters—and turning it into something of her own. A path from object to subject.

Her performances are not acts of rebellion or concept-driven showcases, but living moments in which a piece seems to play itself—retaining its subtle tensions and little mysteries.

Johanna Summer’s acquired sense of self is the foundation for her effortless navigation between classical concert halls and jazz clubs. It is truly unique how naturally, consistently, and logically she infuses jazz with what is inherent in her classical European education. Her improvisations sound like compositions—and vice versa.


Johanna Summer_Act;2022

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