Felix Raffel

Felix Raffel, born in Neumünster/Germany, is a German film composer and pianist. He took his first piano lessons at the age of five and his first composition lessons at the age of ten. He received important pieces of advice from distinguished composers such as Bruce Broughton, Michael Giacchino, David Arnold, Dave Grusin, Christopher Lennertz, Enjott Schneider, Donald J. Williams or Klaus Badelt and helpful hints from pianists like Yasuko Matsuda, Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, Peter Feuchtwanger, Günter Ludwig and Cécile Ousset. From 2003 to 2008 he was studying piano at Hanover University of Music and Drama with Prof. Heidi Köhler, and completed his studies with the best mark. Since October 2007 he has been studying film music scoring at the University of Film and Television in Potsdam-Babelsberg with Prof. Ulrich Reuter and Prof. Bernd Wefelmeyer. Felix Raffel was a scholarship holder for composition of the Yamaha Foundation and had therefore had his first compositional lessons with Mr. Thomas Kärcher. Many of his film scores have been screened on television or at international film festivals all around the world, like Berlinale, Triest, Sitges, Mainz or Cannes. He was selected for some of the world's leading scoring programs, such as Berlinale Talent Campus or The Susan and Ford Schumann Film Scoring Program at Aspen Music Festival and School (Aspen, Colorado). In 2010 he received the prestigious Jerry Goldsmith Award for his orchestral film score for "The Boy Who Wouldn't Kill" at the Film Music Festival Úbeda, Spain - another one, the music for the commercial "Jugend denkt um.welt", was nominated. He received the price from Academy Award-winner Michael Giacchino. Beside his composition activities, Felix successfully took part in several national and international piano competitions: He received a scholarship from the Oscar and Vera Ritter foundation at the Steinway Competition in Hamburg, and got first prizes at the German national competition "Jugend musiziert" and the two international piano competitions "Città di Padova" in Italy, and "Piano Campus" in Pontoise, France. Felix Raffel has played in many distinguished concert halls throughout Europe and Japan such as Laeiszhalle (Hamburg), Konzerthaus am Gendarmenmarkt (Berlin), Salle Cortot (Paris), Sala dei Giganti (Padova), the Summer Festival (Annecy) or Bunkamura Orchard Hall (Tokyo), and was portrayed on television as well as on radio from the age of twelve. The press describes his performances as "brillant" (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung), "at maximum melodious capacity" (Nordwest Zeitung), "amazing" (Tagesspiegel), "masterly" (taz), and "at absolute top class" (Dithmarscher Landeszeitung"). In his concert programs he often combines classical works with his own compositions or arrangements. Felix Raffel's musical ambitions are also focused on theater: He regularly works as a musician at renowned stages in Berlin, such as Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, Heimathafen Neukölln, or with the highly acclaimed improvisation theater group "Die Gorillas".