Benyamin Nuss

Classical pianist Benyamin Nuss is a versatile figure whose activities extend to jazz and the performance of video game music. He is also a composer.
Nuss was born in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany, near Cologne, on June 20, 1989. His father was jazz trombonist Ludwig Nuss, and jazz pianist Hubert Nuss was an uncle; Benyamin was encouraged to develop his gifts and took up the piano at age six. His early studies included music from various genres, but at ten, he heard Debussy’s piano piece Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum (from The Children’s Corner) and began to focus on Debussy’s music and that of Ravel. He took lessons in Bonn with Andreas Fröhlic and Ilja Scheps, going on to the Hochschule für Musik Köln and graduating with a bachelor’s degree in music from that school. He also took master classes from Anatol Ugorski, Einar Steen-Nokleberg, and Ragna Schirmer. Winning honors in Germany’s national Jugend Musiziert youth competition, he performed with the Youth Orchestra of North Rhine-Westphalia and was honored with a “Best of NRW” award in 2008. That brought more concert exposure. An unusual feature of Nuss’ career has been his longstanding interest in video game music; his debut album came in that genre with a release devoted to the music of video game composer Nobuo Uematsu.
Nuss toured Germany in 2010 and was signed to the Deutsche Grammophon label. There, he released the recital album Exotica in 2012, featuring music by Debussy, Darius Milhaud, Alberto Ginastera, and other composers, including several of his own compositions. By the early 2020s, more than ten of Nuss’ compositions had been recorded by himself and others. In 2017 (in Frankfurt) and 2019 (in Paris), Nuss performed at Fanfest events associated with the Final Fantasy XIV video game. He has recorded for Musique Suiss, CAvi-music, and Berlin Classics, among other labels; on Berlin Classics, he issued the album Unite!: Frederic Rzewski - Piano Works in 2022. ~ James Manheim