Christoph Sietzen

Christoph Sietzen ranks among the leading percussionists worldwide even though he remains comparatively young. He has performed across both traditional repertoire and modern works, the latter sometimes alongside the four-marimba ensemble known as The Wave.

Born in Salzburg, Austria, on September 11, 1992, Sietzen holds Luxembourg citizenship. He began percussion studies at six and made his first appearance at the Salzburg Festival when he turned twelve. From his early teenage years he compiled an exceptional string of competition victories, claiming ten first prizes solely at the Prima la Musica Competition. At fourteen, in 2006, he received the Yamaha Audience Award and placed third at the International Marimba Competition held in Linz. He pursued higher education at Anton Bruckner University in Linz, where his coursework encompassed percussion together with double bass and harpsichord. Major orchestras soon engaged him as soloist, among them the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, and the WDR Funkhaus Orchestra Cologne. He has performed in prominent European venues such as the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, and the Vienna Konzerthaus, where the hall presented him in its “Great Talent” series while he was still in his twenties. His festival schedule has likewise proved diverse, including an appearance at Sound Unbound at London’s Barbican with the Academy of Ancient Music.

In 2008 Sietzen and his former teacher Bogdan Bacanu established the Wave Quartet. Both with the group and on his own he has championed contemporary scores; several composers, among them Alexander Müllenbach and Stewart Copeland of the rock band The Police, have written pieces specifically for him. Sietzen issued the album Attraction on the Genuin label in 2017, after which Sony Classical signed him and released Incantations in 2018 and Silence the following year. Since 2014 he has served on the faculty of the University of Music and the Performing Arts while also conducting master classes in locations ranging from Portugal to China and Japan.