FREDERIKA KRIER is a Grammy Award winning German-Romanian electric and acoustic multi-style violinist based in NYC specializing in improvised music.
Frederika Krier was born in Timisoara/Romania and grew up in in Forchheim (Bavaria/Germany). She got her first classical violin lesson at the age of 7, studied among others with Silvia Reichhardt (EMI Erlangen) and took lessons with Uwe Haiberg (UdK Berlin). She started to play early in regional orchestras as concert master and soloist. She also played in many bands of different music styles (folk, gypsy swing, funk, soul, latin, hard rock,…) and took part in musical and film productions.
At the age of 18 she discovered the jazz world at a workshop with jazz violinist Jörg Widmoser (modern string quartett). Regular lessons with him followed along with workshops with Mic Öchsner, Peter o’Mara, Gregor Hübner, Mark Feldman and Barry Harris. After studying ethnomusicology she entered the jazz department of the UdK Berlin, now Jazz Institut Berlin (JIB), and studied there with musicians like Jerry Granelli, Peter Weniger, Chris Dahlgren, David Friedman, John Hollenbeck and Kurt Rosenwinkel. She leads her own bands (Frederika Krier Quartett/Berlin and Molecular Vibrations/NYC) and is coleader of Laghima (duo violin/live electronics with Gian Luigi Diana) and “Kus& Rika” (duo violin/beatbox with French Actor and Musician Markus aka Marc Ruchmann).
She toured extensively with famous Danish singer Gitte Haenning and her Orchestra. Furthermore she recorded with Kurt Rosenwinkel(Caipi), Reign of Kindo, Nabate Isles, Abdoulaye Alhassane, Jojo Kuo (Fela Kuti) etc and worked with Akua Dixon, Regina Carter, Martha Mooke and the Scorchio Quartet, Philip Glass, Rita Wilson, Phoebe Bridgers, The Patti Smith Band, Dennis Davis (David Bowie, George Benson), Jim Cammack (Ahmad Jamal), Francis Mbappe, Mamadou Ba (Harry Belafonte, Leni Stern, KJ Dehnherdt), Juini Booth (Sun Ra Arkestra), Frank Lacy, Karl Berger, among many others. She did 2 US tours with Bollywood Superstar Arijit Singh and was invited as a guest on stage by Richard Bona, Gregory Porter and guest stars every now and then with the legendary Family Stone (formerly Sly and The Family Stone) with whom she also opened for stars like Chaka Khan.
“Devoted” with Frederika Krier Quartett
“Laghima” with Laghima,
“Out of Frame” with Kus & Rika
Numerous CD releases as a side musician.
Awards
2024 Grammy
Gear
Acoustic Violin by Roderick Paesold, Strings: Pirastro Eudoxa/Olive, AER Acoustic Amp, The Realist Pickup, LR Baggs Paraacoustic DI, John Jordan 7 String Electric Violin, ZT Club 12 Guitar Amp
Tags
“Today Frederika Krier is one of the golden names of the next generation of jazz musicians, whether we speak about the European or American scene. She was born in Timisoara, grew up in Germany and settled in the U.S. and will perform on July 22nd….promises to be one of the most exciting moments of the Garana Jazz Festival.” (www.tion.ro 2011) The second day opened with the remarkably fluid show of Frederika Krier Quartet—guitarist Peter Meyer, bassist Malte Tonissen and drummer Diego Pinera—performing a homogenous synthesis of jazz, minimalism and world music influences