Audio Video
Pianist, composer, and arranger Kathrine Windfeld was born in Svendborg on Funen in 1984. As teenager, her strong creative sense was channeled through painting, theatre, singing, and piano playing. During a 5-month stay at the music college “Den Rytmiske Højskole” in 2003, she decided to focus on the piano and composed
her first pieces
Striving for a further exploration of the world of music, she went to The
Department of Musicology in Copenhagen where she took classes in
music theory and analysis, arranging for big band, and a master’s degree
in choir/ensemble leading. Meanwhile, she played in an experimental and
progressive quintet, “Gespenst”, which strongly developed her sense of
writing and navigating in complex rhythmical landscapes. This group
became her main path to the jazz and improvisation, for which reason
she dedicated two years at the Swedish jazz school “Fridhems
Folkhögskola” to jazz piano playing.
In 2011, she initiated “Kathrine Windfeld Sextet”, which is still
performing frequently in Denmark and Sweden. After Fridhems
Folkhögskola, she took a bachelors degree at the jazz performance
programme on “Malmoe Academy of Music”, where her quartet and the
first edition of “Kathrine Windfeld Big Band (KWBB)” was formed in late
2012.
Her versatile musicianship and personal contribution to the acoustic jazz
genre was officially awarded in 2013 by the Swedish “Harry Arnold
Sällskap”, when she received the honourable scholarship “Stand By”.
In early 2014, her burning enthusiasm for the big band project made her
initiate a new 15-piece dream-team (DK,SE,NO) in Copenhagen. The third
album with Kathrine Windfed Big Band, ORCA was released on Stunt Records
October 16 2020 and has been very well received:
"Simply the best contemporary big band I've heard this year" Spoken Here (UK)
"A level of excellence already more than notable for such a young
formation" Culture Jazz (F)
Jazzwise, Europe's leading jazz magazine,
offered Windfeld a big feature, and Radio
ABC Australia promoted ORCA as album
of the week In 2021 Kathrine Windfeld
Sextet finally played a Europe tour in
Spain, England, Ukraine, Iceland and
Germany via the Rising Stars Jazz
Award (UK)
In early 2021, Kathrine received the
Arne Hammelboe Travel Award of
13.400 EUR for further education
outside Denmark.
DETERMINATION was released in
October 2021, the result of
Kathrines residency with Bohuslän
Big Band in Gothenburg. The album is
the 4th with music written my
Kathrine and was followed by a
Sweden tour.