Christian Lillinger SWR-Jazzpreis 2017

Since 2012, the laureate concert for the renowned SWR and Rhineland Palatinate Jazz Prize, established in 1981 and worth 15,000 €, has been staged at the Enjoy Jazz Festival in the cultural centre dasHaus in Ludwigshafen. In 2017, the jury selected drummer and pianist Christian Lillinger, born in 1984 in Lübben, who, as the jury explained, so “courageously and consistently looks to expand his range of expression and advocates non-conformist aspects in the art of jazz”. Since his studies at the University of Music Carl Maria von Weber in Dresden, Lillinger has consistently created furore with his experimental spirit and breath-taking stage presence in numerous projects like in the Hyperactive Kid, Grünen, Starlight and Dell Lillinger Westergaard trios, the Grund ensemble and the quartet Amok Amor amongst others. Lillinger is also sideman of the Rolf Kühn Unit, the Joachim Kühn trio, KUU!, the Henrik Walsdorff trio and Ronny Graupes Spoom. From 2012 to 2013, Lillinger was an executive board member of the German Jazz Musicians' Union (UDJ). The laureate concert tries to represent Lillinger’s diverse interests with two different performances: the septet Grund and the trio Dell / Lillinger / Westergaard together with sound designer Johannes Brecht.