01 · SOLO PIANO
The Vienna Sessions
Intimate, lyrical music recorded at the Bösendorfer factory in Vienna.
Listen on YouTube Music ↗“You are amazing—a one-man entertainment machine with grace, talent, humility, and humor. You made so many people happy.”Jorge Puente · Smithsonian, Washington, D.C.
Three artistic worlds
A life at the piano.
Markus Burger’s work connects the clarity of European classical music, the freedom of jazz improvisation, and a deeply melodic approach to storytelling.
02 · CONTEMPORARY JAZZ
Accidental Tourists
Original music with Joe LaBarbera, Bob Magnusson, Peter Erskine, and international collaborators.
Listen to The L.A. Sessions ↗
03 · SACRED MUSIC REIMAGINED
Spiritual Standards
Faith-based melodies transformed through improvisation, dialogue, and contemporary harmony.
Explore the project ↗The Bösendorfer connection
“His music strikes the perfect balance between harmony and melodic essence with unique and contemplative improvisational lines.”
Ferdinand Bräu · Bösendorfer
Selected highlights
20+albums released as a leader
Globalfestivals, embassies and concert stages
21 yearsteaching in higher education
Distinctivejazz, classical and sacred programs
For presenters
Concert programs with a story.
Flexible programs for concert halls, festivals, universities, churches, cultural institutions, and diplomatic presentations.
SOLO
The Vienna Sessions
A lyrical solo-piano journey through original compositions, improvisation, and the European–American jazz dialogue.
Solo piano
60–90 minutes
Concert hall / salon
Available as a full evening or a shorter festival set, with optional spoken introductions connecting the music to place, memory, and improvisation.
DUO
Spiritual Standards
Centuries-old sacred melodies become living material for contemporary improvisation and musical conversation.
Piano + saxophone
Sacred / cultural
Residency option
Ideal for churches, monasteries, festivals, and reflective concert series. May be paired with a discussion about faith, history, and improvisation.
EUROPEAN ENSEMBLE
Accidental Tourists — The European Quartet
Markus Burger’s European presentation of Accidental Tourists: lyrical contemporary jazz shaped by European musicianship, memorable original compositions, and the project’s transatlantic identity.
European quartet
Festival-ready
Original music
Designed for European festivals, clubs, concert halls, and cultural institutions. The quartet brings the Accidental Tourists repertoire into an agile European touring format led by Markus Burger, with regional personnel announced for each engagement.
URBAN JAZZ · SOUL · FUNK
Sonic Peace
An electrifying concert project with Markus Burger and Sir Chantz Powell, combining New Orleans vitality, urban soul, funk, jazz, movement, and cultural dialogue.
Full band
High-energy
Embassies / festivals
A visually dynamic program for festivals, civic celebrations, embassy cultural initiatives, and major public stages. The project can be paired with outreach, education, or cultural-exchange programming.
CAMPUS
Concert + Workshop Residency
A performance combined with teaching, career development, or a collaborative concert with students and faculty.
1–3 days
Universities
Custom format
Possible elements include masterclasses, composition coaching, entrepreneurship, festival strategy, ensemble rehearsals, and a culminating public performance.
Founded by Markus Burger
A formative European quartet
Septer Bourbon
Pianist-composer Markus Burger founded Septer Bourbon in Cologne in 1991. Also billed early on as Septer Bourbon’s Incredible Four, it developed into a distinctive working quartet featuring saxophonist Jan von Klewitz, bassist Martin Gjakonovski, and drummer Uwe Ecker. The group’s music joined Burger’s luminous, melodic writing with von Klewitz’s supple saxophone voice and a highly textured rhythm section.
Markus Burgerfounder · piano · compositions
Jan von Klewitzsaxophones
Martin Gjakonovskidouble bass
Uwe Eckerdrums
1996 · NEW MORNING RECORDS
Fishing for Compliments
The quartet’s eleven-track, hour-long debut introduced its blend of melodic European jazz, spacious interplay, and original writing.
Listen on YouTube Music ↗1998 · JAZZLINE
The Smile of the Honeycakehorse
Nine pieces including “Bonk,” “Slavonia,” “Dear Rabbitfoot,” and “Evening Prayer”—an adventurous follow-up centered on Burger’s compositions.
Explore the recordings ↗Contemporary European press praised Burger’s “luminous” playing and called Septer Bourbon “one of the best working quartets on the Continent.”
The Smile of the Honeycakehorse was selected among the favorite albums of 1998 by Music & Media jazz correspondent Terry Berne. The album’s track “Bonk,” composed by Markus Burger, was later included in a Deutschlandfunk program devoted to filmmaker Amos Gitai—evidence of the quartet’s reach beyond the club stage.
For European presenters: this quartet lineage now continues under the concert identity Accidental Tourists — The European Quartet, a flexible European ensemble format for festivals, clubs, concert halls, and cultural programs.
“For jazz, there is no better place than Alaska and its midnight sun.”
— Markus Burger
Founded by Markus Burger
German–American musical exchange
North Atlantic Jazz Alliance
Markus Burger founded the North Atlantic Jazz Alliance in 2005 with trumpeter and producer James Linahon, with support from the Goethe-Institut. NAJA brought German and American musicians together in a living expression of transatlantic friendship—original music, jazz tradition, cultural exchange, and collaboration across borders.
2005founded in the United States
TransatlanticGerman and American artists
2006 / 2008
The L.A. Session / NAJA
Multiple tourssupported by German cultural diplomacy
Its artists have performed with Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, and members of the Miles Davis Quintet. The ensemble’s work included tours supported by Wunderbar Together, the Germany Year USA initiative of the German Federal Foreign Office, the Goethe-Institut, and the Federation of German Industries. In Cordova, Alaska, the group paired jazz standards with original compositions influenced by Alaskan folk music.
Founded by Markus Burger
Sacred music · Contemporary improvisation
Spiritual Standards
Founded by Markus Burger and developed with saxophonist Jan von Klewitz, Spiritual Standards transforms chorales, hymns, and sacred melodies into intimate contemporary jazz. The project preserves the musical integrity of its source material while opening it to improvisation, dialogue, and a distinctly modern sense of space.
Since 2000international concert project
Bach PrizeCity of Erfurt
German Top 20debut album
Musical ambassadorsLuther Decade
Burger and von Klewitz have toured extensively across Europe and North America, appeared at the Leipzig and Arnstadt Bach festivals, and created a multi-album body of work including One, Secunda, Tertia, Quarta, Inside.Outside, and Quinta: Songs Inspired by Martin Luther.
One continuous artist site.
These project chapters are prepared so
These project chapters are prepared so
spiritualstandards.com and northatlanticjazzalliance.com can lead visitors directly to their respective sections while remaining inside the Markus Burger website.A Markus Burger project
Urban soul · Funk · Jazz · New Orleans vitality
Sonic Peace
Led by Markus Burger with New Orleans artist Sir Chantz R. Powell, Sonic Peace is a high-energy international band built around the conviction that music can cross borders that politics cannot. Urban jazz, soul-pop, funk, world music, trumpet, dance, and improvisation meet in one visually electrifying concert experience.
Chantz brings the elegance and movement of a classic song-and-dance showman, the immediacy of contemporary soul, and a lyrical trumpet voice rooted in the tradition of Miles Davis—while remaining unmistakably himself.
New Orleans Jazz Museum Cultural Ambassador
Sir Chantz Powell promotes the global appreciation of jazz on behalf of the New Orleans Jazz Museum. A New Orleans native and international recording artist, he is a singer, trumpeter, dancer, songwriter, producer, and actor whose performances have reached stages from London’s Royal Albert Hall to the North Sea Jazz Festival and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
Sir Chantz Powell promotes the global appreciation of jazz on behalf of the New Orleans Jazz Museum. A New Orleans native and international recording artist, he is a singer, trumpeter, dancer, songwriter, producer, and actor whose performances have reached stages from London’s Royal Albert Hall to the North Sea Jazz Festival and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
Markus Burger · Germany / USAfounder · piano · artistic direction
Sir Chantz R. Powell · USAvoice · trumpet · dance
Tasiya · Ukrainevoice
Sammy Lukas · Russiaperformance
Werner Neumann · Germanyguitar
Tom Friedrich · Germanydrums
The band’s multinational lineup turns cultural cooperation into something audiences can see and hear. It is particularly suited to festivals, theaters, city celebrations, embassy cultural programs, and institutions seeking an uplifting program centered on artistic excellence, dialogue, and peaceful coexistence.
Watch live
Music in the room.
Hear the balance of structure, space, lyricism, and spontaneous invention that defines Markus Burger’s performances.
Workshops & residencies
Experience transformed into practice.
Professor Markus Burger brings more than two decades of higher-education teaching together with an international career in performance, production, festivals, and the music business.
WORKSHOP 01
From the Practice Room to a Sustainable Career
Music entrepreneurship, artistic identity, opportunity building, audience development, and practical career strategy.
WORKSHOP 02
Improvisation, Composition & the Transatlantic Jazz Dialogue
A hands-on exploration of melodic development, European classical influence, jazz language, and personal voice.
WORKSHOP 03
Building Festivals & Musical Communities
Programming, partnerships, funding, artist relations, logistics, and the cultural purpose behind successful events.
Photography © Charles Wm Martin
Biography
Between two musical worlds.
German-born pianist and composer Markus Burger has developed a distinctive voice shaped by European classical music, contemporary jazz, sacred repertoire, and decades of international collaboration. A Bösendorfer Artist, he is known for a lyrical approach in which expressive sound, melodic clarity, and thoughtful improvisation take precedence.
His career includes more than twenty albums as a leader, performances at festivals throughout Europe and beyond, concerts presented by German diplomatic missions, and recordings that have reached the German Top 20 and appeared on the Grammy ballot. His compositions have been heard in documentary productions and German public television.
Alongside his creative work, Burger has served as a professor at Fullerton College and has taught jazz piano, composition, and music entrepreneurship at San Diego State University. His work as a performer, producer, educator, and festival professional allows him to connect artistic depth with practical experience.
Selected collaborators: Peter Erskine, Kenny Wheeler, Norma Winstone, Joe LaBarbera, Bob Magnusson, Jan von Klewitz, John Tchicai, Cecil Payne, Marshall Hawkins, and others.
Press & presenter resources
Everything needed to tell the story.
BÖSENDORFER
“Markus Burger is a pianist for whom expressive sound is the essence of his style.”
Ferdinand Bräu
Senior Product Designer & Artist Relations Manager
FEATURED EPK
Luxury Edition
The premium 2026 presentation for artistic directors, presenters, and international partners.
Open Luxury EPK ↗FULL ARTIST EPK
Markus Burger · 2026
Biography, career highlights, projects, reviews, and presenter-ready material.
Open full EPK ↗ENSEMBLE EPK
European Quartet Edition
A dedicated package for quartet bookings, festivals, and European presenters.
Open quartet EPK ↗INTERVIEW
Tastenwelt
Request the interview ↗REVIEW
The Vienna Sessions
Request the review ↗Booking & collaboration
Bring Markus Burger to your stage, campus, or cultural institution.
Concerts, workshops, residencies, collaborative faculty performances, sacred programs, and international cultural presentations are available for the 2026–27 season.