Bio

Nicolas Gurtner made his debut on the saxophone at the age of 11, playing in his village wind band. A few years later he studied the classical and contemporary repertoires of the instrument with Laurent Estoppey, and discovered jazz and improvised music on his own. He went on to form his first bands, composing for them, and tried his hand at big band. After completing a full curriculum at the Hochschule für Musik Luzern - Jazz Department (performance and composition, then teaching), for which he was awarded a scholarship from the Friedl Wald Foundation and where he studied with John Voirol, Nathanael Su and Urs Leimgruber (saxophone), Roland Von Flüe (flute and clarinet) and Ed Partyka (composition and arranging), among others, he founded Rencontres arrangées with Jérôme Jeanrenaud: a series of concert-creations for which a new team of artists is invited to each event, for whom Jérôme Jeanrenaud and Nicolas Gurtner compose a made-to-measure repertoire. As part of this series, he has collaborated with the Nouvel Ensemble Contemporain, Nicolas von Ritter-Zahony and Le Pommier, and created Musique d'avenir (2023).

Il est membre de l’orchestre Constelar et du septet Paykuna, avec lequel il part en tournée en Amérique du Sud (2022), tous deux dirigés par Demian Coca. Il est également membre de l’ensemble Mechanical Birds Factory, dirigé par Antoine Humberset, qui crée Notre Soif d’Amour (2023). Il a récemment travaillé sur plusieurs autres créations dont Commun accord (2023) avec la danseuse Solène Schnüriger et Images (2023) avec le Duo Klexs et l’artiste lumière Laurenz Theinert et s’est vu commander un arrangement de Pulau Dewata de Claude Vivier par le collectif Love Music qui l’a présenté lors du Festival Arsmondo Utopie à l’Opéra National du Rhin à Strasbourg (2024).

He is a member of the Constelar orchestra and the Paykuna septet, with whom he will tour South America (2022), both directed by Demian Coca. He is also a member of the Mechanical Birds Factory ensemble, directed by Antoine Humberset, which created Notre Soif d'Amour (2023). He has recently worked on several other creations, including Commun accord (2023) with dancer Solène Schnüriger, Image(s) (2023) with Duo Klexs and lighting artist Laurenz Theinert, and an arrangement of Pulau Dewata by Claude Vivier commissioned by the Love Music collective, which presented it at the Arsmondo Utopie Festival at the Opéra National du Rhin in Strasbourg (2024).