Theatre

Prof. (stv.) Sebastian Gille

_Jazz | Jazz saxophone
_Interim Professorship
_Faculty: 1

Prof. (stv.) Sebastian Gille
Photo: Heiko Specht

BIOGRAPHY

Sebastian Gille (*1983 in Quedlinburg) is a saxophonist and composer based in Cologne. Jazzthetik has called him “one of the most expressive saxophonists of our time,” while Jazzpodium described him as “undoubtedly one of the greatest woodwind players on this planet.” Writing in Die Zeit, Stefan Hentz highlighted the warmth, sensitivity and vulnerability of Gille’s sound – “in an unmistakably individual form.”

Gille is internationally active as a bandleader and sideman and can be heard on more than 50 recordings. He has performed worldwide and worked with artists including Abdullah Ibrahim, David Liebman, Billy Hart, Richie Beirach, Michael Gibbs, Lionel Loueke, David Virelles, Jim Black, Joey Baron, Ralph Alessi, Thomas Morgan, Bill Elgart, Elias Stemeseder, Marc Ducret, Tom Rainey and Christian Lillinger. His concert appearances have taken him to festivals including the North Sea Jazz Festival, Copenhagen Jazz Festival, London Jazz Festival, Jazzfest Berlin and JazzBaltica, as well as venues such as the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Berlin Philharmonie, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Gewandhaus Leipzig and Casa del Jazz in Rome.

Gille studied saxophone at the University of Music and Theatre Hamburg as well as with Phil Woods, David Liebman, Joe Lovano, Branford Marsalis and Mark Turner. His artistic work has been recognized with awards including the Hamburg Jazz Award and the SWR Jazz Award, and he was a scholarship recipient of the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes) and the Claussen-Simon Foundation. Alongside concerts and teaching, he has for many years passionately organized and curated festivals and concert series of his own as a member of the Cologne-based artists’ collective KLAENG. After teaching at music universities in Mannheim, Weimar and Nuremberg, he has also taught at Folkwang University of the Arts since 2024, where he takes up an acting professorship in Jazz Saxophone for the 2026/27 winter semester.