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Biographie of Gert Wilden
Born in Munich into a talented musical family of Bohemian origins -
Musical education
First piano lessons at the age of 8. First performing experience as a member of various amateur
rock and jazz bands at the age of 15.
After graduating from high school, studied composition, piano and conducting at the Richard Strauß
Conservatory in Munich (including piano tuition under Karl-Herrmann Mrongovius and Begonia Uriarte,
widely renowned for their interpretations of new music as an award-winning piano duo)
After completing his academic studies, he worked for a year as assistant to his father,
Gert Wilden senior, who, in his capacity as house composer to Arthur Brauner in the 1960s,
70s and 80s, is regarded as one of the three great names in German postwar film music
alongside Martin Boettcher (of "Winnetou" fame) and Peter Thomas ("Raumschiff Orion").
In addition to writing music for over 70 other cinema productions in a wide variety of genres,
his works include the soundtrack for the popular cartoon series "Heidi" and for the complete set
of "Schulmädchen Report" blue movies, which helped him to attain something of a cult status among
the younger generation.
At his father's side, Gert Wilden junior learnt many things that no conservatory in the world
could have taught him
He then embarked on his performing career as a jazz and fusion pianist and keyboarder. -
He spent several periods travelling abroad to discover the roots of black music, including:
1986 Visit to Brazil, where he had the opportunity to work together with some of the country's
most renowned musicians at the time, including Hermeto Pascoal, the eternal enfant terrible of
the Brazilian music scene, Cesar Mariano, companion and musical director of the unforgettable
Elis Regina, and trombonist Raoul de Souza, who rose to international fame through the albums
he recorded with George Duke and Airto Moreira.
1993 Long stay in Africa, where he studied West African music and took djembe
lessons with Guinean drumming expert Mamady Keita.
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On return from Africa, his services were much in demand as a sideman in various jazz and
rock formations, where he accompanied numerous famous artists of the international jazz and
rock scene, including Billy Cobham, John Lord, Brian Auger, Lou Donnaldson, Bill Bruford,
Hannibal Marvin-Peterson, Anne Haigis, Wolfgang Schmid, Peter O´Mara and others.
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He worked as studio musician, arranger and producer on innumerable rock and pop productions.
His JUST FUN formation was awarded a Deutsche Phono-Akademie prize.He won the Ernst Fischer
composition prize, awarded by GEMA, no less than three times. For three years, he was a
member of WOLFHOUND, the successful jazz-rock group led by the venerable Wolfgang Schmid.
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He then went on to found his own group, MIKADO which, as one of the first sustained advocates
of the crossover concept - long before the term came into current use - was esteemed as one of
the leading German fusion formations for several years.
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Then followed a break from performing to concentrate on composing. During this period he
devoted much of his attention to developments in contemporary classical music, studying
the works of Ligeti, Lutoslawski, Feldman, Reich, Cage and Xenakis, among others.
This preoccupation soon led to the formation of a 3-piano ensemble named "f!üge!sch!ag²,
in which he and fellow pianists Andi Lutter and Ralf Schmid exclusively performed their
own compositions and improvisations
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1999 was the year of his American debut at the Merkin Hall, New York. In 2000, a first
CD was recorded in collaboration with the Bavarian broadcasting company Bayerischer Rundfunk
and distributed by the ambitious New York independent label Obliq Sound. It received the highest
accolades from fellow artists such as Chick Corea, Steve Reich and Claus Ogermann.
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It was also during this period that he made his first incursions into the world of television,
gathering experience in soundtrack composition through collaboration on a number of
prime-time TV series (including "Ein Bayer auf Rügen" (SAT1), "Unser Charlie" (ZDF),
"Mona M" (ZDF)).
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This finally brought about the decision to change direction and dedicate himself to film work,
marked by his first original score for "Taxi Lisboa" by Wolf Gaudlitz, a film highly acclaimed
in cineaste circles. This film was so appreciated for its overall artistic quality that it is
one of the few film projects to have been acquired by the New York Museum of Modern Art.
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Further feature film and documentary projects ensued, including Peter Buchka's legacy to
cinema history, "The Haunted Screen".
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Florian Gallenberger's film "Quiero Ser", produced as a final diploma project, immediately
won the Academy Student Award and one year later, in 2001, became the first
German film since "The Tin Drum² to win an Oscar for the Best Short Film.
Ever since this startlingly successful film debut, Gert Wilden has quickly acquired a
reputation as one of the best German composers of film scores, and is highly solicited
for work on projects of a more creative nature.
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In 2001, he was asked to compose the score for "Leo and Claire" by Joseph Vilsmayer,
his first major cinema soundtrack, which combines stirring elements of late-romantic
orchestral themes with a range of jazz and Latin-American tunes played in the traditional
style of the 1930s and 40s.
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This was followed, in the summer of 2002, by the first international film project, a large-budget
co-production by French, Italian, British and German film teams to produce a film version of the
novel "Entrusted", featuring Claus Maria Brandauer, Thomas Sangster, Giovanna Mezzogiorno,
Dominique Pignon, Thomas Heinze, and others, under the direction of Giacomo Battiato.
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A number of other interesting soundtrack projects are planned for the coming year, including
the two-part Mafia thriller "Vera - The Sicilian's Wife" (working title) starring Mario Adorf
(and directed by Joseph Vilsmayer), and a project by Florian Gallenberger, "Shadows of Time",
to be produced by Helmut Dietl and Norbert Preuss - the story takes place in India, and the
film is to be shot there by a German-Indian team.
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