THOMAS GANSCH I HERBERT PIXNER - Alps & Glow

Thomas Gansch, born in St Pölten, grew up in Melk an der Donau, where he learned the trumpet from his father Johann Gansch.

At the age of 15, he went to Vienna to study trumpet at the University of Music and Performing Arts. During his studies, he founded the group Mnozil Brass together with fellow students in 1992. After six years of classical music, Gansch decided to finish his studies in 1997 and turned to his great love, jazz.
From 1998 to 2006 he played in the legendary Vienna Art Orchestra, which he still describes as his "true" student days.

In addition to countless collaborations with musicians from all over the world and performances in almost 50 countries, he also composes for a wide variety of other ensembles besides Mnozil Brass. Thomas Gansch is not only one of the most versatile trumpeters of his generation, but also an entertainer through and through, who always has a joke on his face, but never loses sight of the music.

Herbert Pixner grew up with five siblings on a mountain farm in Walten in Passeier (South Tyrol). From 1986 he learned the clarinet and drums at music school and from 1991 self-taught on the diatonic harmonica. In the course of time, he picked up the flugelhorn, trumpet, tuba, saxophone and various percussion instruments.

He founded various music groups of his own, but also worked with various other groups and representatives of different styles, with "Kurt Ostbahn", "Manou Manouche", "Tonkünstler Orchester Niederösterreich", "Joe Smith Band" or with contemporary composers such as Manuela Kerer and Eduard Demetz.

Since 2007, however, the main focus has been on his work with the "Herbert Pixner Project", with which he has given and continues to give intensive concerts, including in the Great Hall of the Vienna Musikverein, at the Festspielhaus Salzburg, the Isarphilharmonie in Munich and at the Grafenegg Festival.

With their sensational arrangements of the music of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, the radio.string.quartet catapulted themselves onto the European concert and festival scene in 2006. This was followed by further albums such as "Radotree" with the accordion virtuoso Klaus Paier and "Calling You" with the Swedish singer Rigmor Gustavson. In 2013, the CD "Celebrating Weather Report" with music by Joe Zawinul was voted the second best jazz album of the year by The Sunday Times.

Projects in recent years have led to collaborations with a wide variety of musicians, including nu-jazz pianist Bugge Wesseltoft, Viennese music legend Roland Neuwirth and trumpet star Thomas Gansch. The radio.string.quartett is made up of Bernie Mallinger (violin), Igmar Jenner (violin), Cynthia Liao (viola), Sophie Abraham (cello)

The percussionist and hang player Manu Delago studied percussion and composition at the Mozarteum, the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and Trinity College of Music. His solo piece "Mono Desire" was the most popular Hang video on the internet with over five million views and landed in the top 30 music videos on YouTube, and Delago has played four world tours with Icelandic singer Björk. He has been performing with sitar player Anoushka Shankar since 2013. Manu Delago was nominated for a Grammy for his work on her album "Land of Gold". As a percussionist and drummer, he has performed in renowned concert halls such as the Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Carnegie Hall in New York and the Sydney Opera House. Manu Delago has performed as a soloist with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Metropole Orkest, the Munich Chamber Orchestra and the Zurich Chamber Orchestra.

The Klagenfurt musician Lukas Kranzelbinder is considered the enfant terrible of the Austrian jazz scene, according to Deutschlandfunk, where he first learned the piano and only then the electric bass and double bass. Kranzelbinder studied in Vienna and Linz. He has performed with musicians such as Mario Rom, Johannes Schleiermacher, Mona Matbou Riahi and Dave Smith. Shake Stew with the album Gris Gris on the best list of the German Record Critics' Award. 2021 was Shake Stew  was awarded a German Jazz Prize as "International Band of the Year".