Pascal Schumacher Quartet | it

"Lyrical, stylish yet cool," according to Music-Wire.com, the Pascal Schumacher Quartet brings the vibraphone back into the limelight. Schumacher was born in Luxemburg on 12 March 1979. He started his studies as a percussionist at the Classical Music Department of the Conservatoire de Musique de la Ville de Luxembourg (Luxembourg) and obtained the Prix Supérieur in 1999. In 1996 he was also admitted at the Conservatoire National de Région de Strasbourg (France), where he was taught by Emmanuel Séjourné and from which he received the diploma for his specialisation in keyboard with distinction from a unanimous jury in 2000.

In 1997 he continued his studies with the jazz vibraphone player Guy Cabay, first at the Jazz Department of the Conservatoire de Luxembourg, where he obtained the Prix Supérieur with distinction in 2001, and later at the Jazz Department of the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles (Belgium), where he obtained a Bachelor Degree in June 2003. In 2005 he graduated at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in The Hague (Netherlands) with Frits Landesbergen. He also received a Master’s Degree in Musicology at the Université Marc Bloch in Strasbourg (France) in 2002. Pascal has also followed master classes and workshops with, among others, Gary Burton, Mike Manieri, David Friedman, Stefon Harris, Franck Tortiller, Wolfgang Lackerschmid, Jean Geoffroy, Charles Loos and Scott Prebys In 1995 he co-founded the ensemble Interchange with saxophonist Nadine Kauffmann.

In 1998 he received the „IKB Jugend-Förderpreis“. In 1999 he was the laureate of the Prix Norbert Stelmes des Jeunesses Musicales in Luxembourg. In 2001 he was the co-founder of the experimental percussion group Stroke X. From 2001 to 2003 he co-led the Greg Lamy - Pascal Schumacher Quartet. In 1997 Pascal started to concentrate more on improvised music, in particular jazz music, and performing regularly with different bands, such as the Kristen Cornwell Quintet, the Marc Demuth Quartet, Chroma, Gasz3…. Pascal has been very busy in the Benelux jazz scene, performing alongside Bruno Castelucci, Sebastian Coojmans, Jan de Haas, Marc Demuth, Jim Grandcamp, Jambangle, Diego Imbert, Chris Joris, Sylvain Rifflet, Sal La Rocca, Davide Petroca, Paolo Radoni, Maxime Saury, Brice Soniano, Oliver Strauch, Erwin Vann and Yvonne Walter, among others. In 2003 he formed his own quartet, the Pascal Schumacher Quartet with Jef Neve on the piano, Christophe Devisscher on bass and Teun Verbruggen, replaced in 2006 by Jens Düppe on drums. They recorded their debut album Change Of The Moon for IGLOO Records (www.sowarex.be) in November 2003, when the quartet started touring in Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Holland, Germany, Portugal, Greece, Australia, South Africa. The album was released in in March 2004.

The quartet’s second album, Personal Legend, was released in November 2005. In August 2004 the quartet won the First Prize, as well as the Audience Award at the famous Tremplin Jazz d’Avignon, in Avignon (France). In November 2005, Pascal Schumacher won the Belgian Django d’Or Award for New Talent. Pascal Schumacher is based in Brussels and also teaches at the Conservatoire de Luxembourg. .