Roger Hanschel

Roger Hanschel, born in Wolfsburg in 1964, is a German saxophonist and composer. He studied saxophone at the Musikhochschule Köln from 1981 to 1987, followed in 1986 by a period of study at the Banff School of Fine Arts with Dave Liebman, Dave Holland and Richie Beirach. In 1987 he joined the Kölner Saxophon Mafia. He founded the Trio Triosphere (2000) and Roger Hanschels Heavy Rotation (2006); further projects are Roger Hanschel & String Thing, the duo VOTUM with Barbara Schachtner, the Trio Benares with Deobrat and Prashant Mishra, the Quartett am Ende der Zeit and the FUCHSTHONE Orchestra. Since 2010 he has been a lecturer in saxophone at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln. He received the SWR Jazz Prize in 1999 and the WDR Jazz Prize in the improvisation category in 2018. His recordings include “Rajas” (2019) and “Überdehnung” (2024).