Essen-born percussionist Alexej Gerassimez is as versatile a musician as his instruments. He is not only a phenomenal virtuoso, but also a creative and intelligent musician with incredible energy and a wealth of color.
His repertoire ranges from classical and new music to jazz and minimal music and expands with his own compositions and new concerts that are written to suit him. The world premiere of John Psatha's concerto "Leviathan" with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin took place with great success at the Berlin Philharmonie in 2021, followed by concerts in the Elbphilharmonie and the Tonhalle Düsseldorf, among others, as well as in New Zealand. He premiered Kalevi Aho's double concerto for viola and percussion in 2022 and recorded it for BIS Records. The new percussion concerto by Japanese composer Malika Kishino was performed for the first time in 2022 under the direction of Jonathan Stockhammer.
In the 2024/25 season, he returns to the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Essen Philharmonic, the NDR Radiophilharmonie and the Munich Symphony Orchestra and is a guest at the Elbphilharmonie with the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra. In March 2025, Alexej Gerassimez will curate the Spring Festival Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on the island of Rügen.
His musical partners include cellist Anastasia Kobekina, pianists Arthur and Lucas Jussen, and jazz pianist Omer Klein. The program “Starry Night” with the SIGNUM saxophone quartet has been released as an album by Berlin Classics.
Alexej Gerassimez is Professor of Percussion at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich.