Fabian Ziegler

Biography

In his young career, Fabian Ziegler has already achieved a goal in commissioning stunning new repertoire for percussion. He is committed to giving life to innovative compositions by renowned composers, such as John Psathas, Avner Dorman, Serj Tankian, Arash Safaian, Daniel Schnyder and many more. His goal is to elevate percussion repertoire to another level, working on original and meaningful projects with leading composers in the international music world. Fabian Ziegler is committed to bring the best of percussion repertoire to the people, to introduce them new and striking pieces for solo percussion and chamber music with percussion Instruments. In the years 2021/2022, collaborations with the Musikkollegium Winterthur, the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra Wellington, the Zürcher Singakademie, and many more will take place.

"In my opinion, the young percussionist clearly belongs to the Swiss soloists with a profile for an international career. He not only convinces musically, but also has a very distinctive stage presence." - Thomas Pfiffner

The percussionist Fabian Ziegler is an unusually talented young musician. Judging by his numerous prizes and awards, it is already known that he brings something special to those who hear him. In the past few seasons there have been debuts with the Argovia Philharmonic, the Musikkollegium Winterthur and the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich.

Ziegler, who was Young Artist at the renowned Davos Festival in 2017 - 2020, impressed the public and the press with works by artists from Iannis Xenakis to Astor Piazolla. In addition to pianist Sebastian Knauer and the Zurich Chamber Orchestra he delivered in "Überbach" by Arash Safaian the shimmering crystalline vibraphone sound for the cross-genre project "Digital Symphony" in Zurich and with the Munich Bach Collegium at the famous Prinzregententheater in Munich. Fabian Ziegler has also performed at other important locations such as the Konzerthaus Berlin, the KKL Luzern, the Kulturcasino Bern, the Tonhalle in St. Gallen and the Lincoln Center in New York City. In 2017 he also performed with Martin Grubinger's Percussive Planet Ensemble.

Fabian Ziegler fascinates the audience with his varied and imaginative programming and carries a multitude of instruments with him that can be used to create a wide variety of soundscapes. His repertoire ranges from Bach to Cage to Xenakis and beyond. He frequently takes part in world premieres by renowned composers, including Christos Hatzi's “Tongues of Fire” (percussion concerto) in 2017 and Emmanuel Séjourné's double concerto for vibraphone, marimba and wind orchestra in 2016.

He not only appears frequently as a percussion soloist, but also founded his own concert series entitled “Marimba Recital Concerts”. Fabian Ziegler has been welcoming international guests from the world of percussion since September 2015. In 2018 the “Swiss Percussion Night” concert format was added. Inquisitive and open-minded, he has no inhibitions or reservations. This applies not only to the repertoire that he cultivates and conquers, but also to concert formats.

Born in Switzerland, he completed his Bachelor of Arts in music at the Zurich University of the Arts with Prof. Klaus Schwärzler, Prof. Raphael Christen, Prof. Benjamin Forster, Martin Grubinger and Prof. Rainer Seegers. Also in Zurich, he completed a Master of Arts in Music (Performance Soloist) in September 2019. In addition to his regular studies, he also took part in international masterclasses with Katarzyna Mycka, Jean Geoffroy, Svet Stoyanov, Conrado Moya, Beverly Johnston, and many more.

In December 2017, Fabian Ziegler won the Migros Culture Percentage Study Prize for the second time since 2015 for his extraordinary solo performance during the instrumental music competition. Since 2017 he has also been a scholarship holder of the Friedl-Wald-Stiftung and the Rahn Kulturfonds. In 2018 & 2020 he won the Kiefer-Hablitzel / Göhner Music Prize and was a semi-finalist at the International TROMP Percussion Competition in both years.