Bass
Nils Kugelmann (b. 1996, Munich) discovered music early, starting on recorder before moving to piano, clarinet, and bass. He wrote his first clarinet piece at 11, a big band composition at 15, and orchestral works and two musicals by 18—premiered under his direction at venues including Munich’s Herkulesaal, Nymphenburg Palace, Wagenhalle, and Gasteig.
After graduating from the Pestalozzi Gymnasium in 2015, he studied jazz double bass at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München with Henning Sieverts, completing his Bachelor (2020) and Master (2022). Already active as a sideman, he performed with the Benny Golson Quartet, Trio Elf, the Jazzrausch Bigband, Johannes Enders, and others.
Since 2022, Kugelmann has focused on his own project, the Nils Kugelmann Trio, performing widely across Germany and abroad. Their debut album Stormy Beauty was nominated for the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik; the Süddeutsche Zeitung praised it as “a brilliant album by one of the most universal musicians in this country.” He also plays contralto clarinet in the duo Shuteen Erdenebaatar & Nils Kugelmann and piano in Wolfgruber Kugelmann.
His trio won first prize at the European Young Artist Jazz Award Burghausen 2023, alongside awards such as the Biberacher Jazzpreis, Förderpreis des Bayerischen Jazzverbands, the Future Sounds Competition in Leverkusen, the Musikstipendium der Stadt München, and the BMW Young Artist Jazz Award.
Kugelmann’s long awaited album, Life Score, was released on April 25, 2025.
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