ralph zurmühle
Mobirise Website Creator

about ralph

"One of the greatest exponents in the world of solo piano." - YAMAHA Music Europe


"25 years after the glory days of the solo piano genre sparked by artists like Keith Jarrett and George Winston, the solo piano album remains an elusive undertaking: very easy to do - very hard to do well. Swiss pianist Ralph Zurmühle is one of those rare artists, who does it sublimely well, with great sensitivity to touch, melody, and ambience. Listen and you will find yourself in the hands of a master." - Stephen Hill, San Francisco, Producer of Hearts of Space Radio



Ralph Zurmühle, Swiss composer and pianist, was born in Zürich and grew up mainly in Liechtenstein. He graduated from the University of Zürich and lives in Spain. Ralph discovered his natural ability for the piano at the age of five. He fostered his talent over decades with jazz and classical music training in Zürich and Liechtenstein. Imbued with subtle changes of tempo and nuance, crossing various musical genres, Zurmühle’s compositions maintain the intuitive feeling of improvised music. With great sensitivity to touch, he combines fluidity and freedom with refinement and development. Ralph's CDs, composed in the genre of contemporary post-classical piano music, have been met with international critical acclaim and received multiple nominations and awards:

For more than twenty years Ralph has been performing solo piano concerts in Europe and the United States, mostly playing his own repertoire. Recently (2017 and 2018) he performed in a series of benefit concerts to raise funds for Syrian refugees. The venues: Reial Cercle Artístic, Barcelona; El Kursaal y Teatre Conservatori, Manresa. 

In October 2012 he shared the stage with Peter Kater and David Dorantes in the Second International Piano Festival (Burgos, Spain). September-October 2013 marked Ralph's Prayer in the Night concert tour in collaboration with YAMAHA Europe and YAMAHA Spain (Catalonia, Spain). 

Compositions from Ralph's CDs and originally scored music have been featured in films, theater productions and multi-media projects. Some of these projects are:

  • Momix-Alchemia - multimedia performance by Momix, a company of dancer-illusionists, international tour from 2013 to 2016, USA.
  • The Appalachian Trail An American Legacy - documentary by Sam Henegar, 2014, USA.
  • La primera sonrisa - documentary by Guadalupe Sanchez Sosa, 2014, Mexico.
  • Lars o hechizando vientos - original score for audio-visual installation by Manuel Solà , 2013, Museum Can Mario, Palafrugell, Girona, Spain.
  • Erinnere dich, was sie dir angetan haben... - German documentary by P. Wilhelmy and others, 2010, Germany.
  • All Secrets - award-winning feature film directed by Tomas Suski, 2007, Edinburgh , U.K.
  • L'horitzó - original score for multimedia project by sculptor Manuel Solá, 2006, Metrònom, Barcelona, and the International Biennial of Contemporary Art, Almería, Spain.
  • Harvest Moon - original score, film by Jack McKusky, 2006, Barcelona , Spain.
  • New music for classic silent films - original score and live performance for classic silent films by Luis Buñuel, Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray and René Clair, 2005, Valencian Institute of Modern Art , Spain.
  • Norró - documentary for Spanish television (La 2), directed by Pere Herms, 2005, Spain.
  • The Normal Lee Story - original score for feature film/documentary directed by Arno Oehri, 1999, Liechtenstein/USA.
  • Der Berg, das Meer und die Wunde - original score for choreography. Theater and film production by Arno Oehri, 1996, Liechtenstein.
  • Nachtgebet - original score for film-performance by Arno Oehri, 1994, Sarjetschni, Russia.
  • From The Other End Of Time - original score for performance by Arno Oehri, 1991, Foster Goldstrom, Broadway, New York, USA.

For more information about recent projects, please click here.
To view Ralph's bio on YAMAHA Spain's Artist page, click here. 
To view Ralph's IMDb page, click here.
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