

Christian Korthals
*25 October 1978
Works by Christian Korthals
Biography
Christian Korthals was born in Nuremberg, Germany in 1978 and studied Computational Linguistics, before he decided to travel the world as a street musician for one year. He then continued to study the jazz saxophone at ArtEZ Conservatory, Arnhem, Netherlands. He toured internationally with his sextet Tian et al, the gypsy jazz band D'Artagnan and the Composers' Orchestra Berlin. He received grants from Initiative Musik and the Senate of Berlin. Besides his projects as a soprano and tenor saxophonist, he is also active as a pianist, composer and actor (recently in Paulus Mankers productions "Alma" and "The Last Days of Mankind"). His published compositions include pieces for saxophone quintet as well as works for large ensemble. He has been living in Berlin since 2012, where he also teaches.
About the music
With his jazz sextet "Tian et al", Christian Korthals combined elements from Jazz, Latin and Flamenco, published on NEUKLANG, 2012. As a composer, he developed during his 10 years experience with the Composers' Orchestra Berlin. The C.O.B is an ensemble of 3 wood winds and 3 brass, string quartet and rhythm group under the direction of British composer Hazel Leach. During those years, Christian Korthals startet including elements from classical and romantic music into his works. The C.O.B presents new works every month in Berlin, toured through Germany in 2019, and has published five CDs, with a CD of works by Korthals due to be published in April 2023. Two of Korthals' saxophone quintets are published with advance music/Schott ("Echo from the Past", "Flor Mixteca"). His first publication for UE is an exceptional collection of saxophone duets for performance and teaching purposes ("Around the Globe", 2022).
Composers' Orchestra Berlin: Exoplanet CD Release
Nine of my compositions have appeared on the JazzHausMusik CD "Exoplanet", played by the Composers' Orchestra Berlin. We presented the music on tour in May 2023. We also played my newly published compositions "Wild und Weit" and "Der ungetanzte Tango".
In July 2023, I am busy as an actor and musician in Paulus Manker's famous theatre production "Alma", playing the role of the UE composer Alexander Zemlinsky.