About

Via Marburg, Mainz, Miami to Cologne

Heidi Bayer has lived in Cologne since 2015 as a trumpeter, composer and bandleader. She started out as a classical clarinettist and discovered jazz on this instrument before switching to the trumpet in high school. Despite her newfound love for this instrument, she first studied cultural studies in Marburg before going on to study jazz trumpet in Mainz, Miami and finally Essen.

Cologne

Bayer landed in Cologne in 2015 and quickly realized that the city was good for her! Open, diverse and culturally active, it was a great playground to try out and discover herself after her studies. She was soon playing in various formations and also began to set up her first own project here: “Virtual Leak”, a quartet without a harmony instrument, which has been on the road since 2019. Inspired by new musical forms and sounds, her second album under her own name followed in 2022: the quintet “KORSH”, in which she further explores and redefines her musical boundaries.

Latest projects

Bayer has found her way into some exciting band formations and projects as a sidewoman. The latest projects include Sara Decker's German-American band “Expand”, feat. Kaisa Mäensivu (bass), Yuhan Su (vibraphone) and Mareike Wiening (drums). Jonas Winterhalter's Swiss-German, computer-based Large Ensemble and the newly founded Paris-based project “The Other Side Orchestra” (FR) are also among the more recent collaborations.

Older collaborations

Other formations in which she has contributed her own independent sound live or on CD include Sven Decker's “JULI Quartett”, the “Subway Jazz Orchestra”, the Janning Trumann Octet, Shannon Barnett's “Wolves and Mirrors”, Mariá Portugal's “Erosao”, Johannes Ludwig's “Vagabond Souls”, Oliver Chavet's “Racines”, “LIUN and the Science Fiction-Orchestra”, “Jan Schreiner Large Ensemble” and many more. Bayer's characteristic playing is also part of the line-up of Hendrika Entzian's Bigband and and Stefan Karl Schmid's pyjama octet.

Music

“ A festival of contrasts, light years away from any comfort zone.” - Jazzthing (about the album KORSH)

As a bandleader, it has always been important to Bayer not to let her compositions become an end in themselves for the solo performances of her band members and herself. The composition is just as important as the musical statement of each and every individual in the band, creating a unique and unmistakable band sound.

Bayer creates “music between composition and improvisation, structured and free, beautiful and exciting, lyrical and rousing at the same time, with its own profile and in tune with the times.” - HR2

Bayer's approach enjoys wit and contradiction, with his very own voice, generous subjects, emotional depth and a large portion of self-irony. These are “own compositions [...] that are rooted in modern traditions and still leave plenty of room for free development [...].” - JAZZDAYGERMANY

Awards

Bayer's work has received numerous awards and nominations, including the “Folkwang Jazz Award” with the duo “Bayer // Scobel” (2018) and the “German Jazz Award” for her composition “Cookie Dough” from the album KORSH (2023):

“And yet, or precisely because of this, she is an utopian who makes things heard that no ear has ever heard before.” - Wolf Kampmann, press release for her album KORSH

She has also been nominated for the German Jazz Award for brass instruments (2022) and included in the NICA funding program for outstanding musicians in NRW (2020). In 2020, she was awarded the University of Oldenburg's “Teaching Award” for her pedagogical work in the field of ensemble conducting.

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Wit and spirit …

… guide the interfaces in Bayer's projects, both among the members of the band and in the exploration of space, playing, listening, personalities, instruments and compositional methods. An authentic freedom and lack of hierarchy, genuine collectivity and community are acted out, played and lived together. Shifts and drifting through many layers of music history bring complexity and simplicity together in an advanced way. There is plenty of fresh air, leaps of joy, swings and filled chambers of wonder to discover in Bayer's composition and playing, without losing the depth and seriousness of her music.

Teaching

Bayer has taught as a lecturer at the Carl von Ossietzky University in Oldenburg, the University of Music and Performing Arts Mannheim, the University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart and is currently a full-time lecturer for jazz/pop ensemble conducting at the University of Music and Dance in Cologne. In the winter semester 2024/25, she also taught the subject “Jazz Pedagogy” at the Jazzcampus Basel.

Since 2023, she has also been part of the permanent educational team of the Bavarian State Youth Jazz Orchestra.

As a leader of workshops and big bands, in her work with state and national youth jazz orchestras and through her jury memberships, Bayer is actively working to organize jazz and also the choice and distribution of instruments in a less gender-sensitive and more diversity-sensitive way at an early stage. It is a project close to her heart to accompany the new generation of jazz musicians carefully into their musical careers.