photo by Nekame Klasohm
Fabian Neubauer (*1994) is a musician, multi-instrumentalist, and improviser internationally active in the field of experimental and improvised music. Focusing on multi-instrumental improvisation, he studied piano and drums at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, Germany. His rare versatility spans piano, drums, and electronics—integrating them into a distinctive electroacoustic practice that sets him apart.
Fabian Neubauer is Curator of Solips, an experimental music venue and interdisciplinary art space based in Wuppertal. He is also curator and initiator of the Off-Grid Series at ORT in Wuppertal and is curationally active at Loch, Wuppertal and the Moers Festival.
Operating at the intersection of acoustic and electronic sound, he explores a wide range of instruments and sound sources—including piano, drums, guitar, percussion, objects prepared with contact microphones, and electronic feedback systems. His work spans both free improvisation and conceptual approaches, treating music as an open, ever-evolving process. Central to his practice is an approach shaped less by control than by intuition, physical play, and openness; by consciously embracing not-knowing, he subverts routines and automatisms.
He has collaborated with numerous international artists, including Leila Bordeuil, Matthias Kaiser, Le Quan Ninh, Ryan Carniaux, Felix Nussbaumer, Reza Askari, Dominik Mahnig, Hartmut Kracht, Taka Kagitomi, Phil Minton, Karl F. Degenhardt, Caroline Kraabel, Masayo Koketsu, Ryotaro Miyasaka, Masahiro Tobita, Yasu Ey, Phil Niblock, Mik Quantius, Bastian Buddenbrock, Gunda Gottschalk, Christoph Irmer, Israel Flores Bravo, Duy Luong, Carl Ludwig Hübsch, Beat Keller, Hanna Schörken, Li-Chin Li, Sebastian Gramss, Jan Klare, and many others.
Concert tours have taken him to various countries across Europe and Asia. He is also regularly active in London and deeply connected to the city’s free improvisation scene.
Neubauer has performed both solo and in numerous ensembles, and has collaborated with artists from dance and visual arts. He has worked closely with New York avant-garde musicians and Moers Festival artists-in-residence Kevin Shea and Matt Mottel, recognized figures in the city’s underground scene.
Many renowned international festivals have invited him, including Moers Festival and Fusion Festival. He is a recipient of the Istanbul Residency Award of the Kunststiftung NRW and winner of the Steinway Prize NRW. With the Düsseldorf Düsterboys, he received the German Record Critics’ Award for Nenn Mich Musik.
Fabian Neubauer created music for dance and theater companies such as SZENE2WEI, POUR Ensemble, Folkwang Tanzstudio, Chikako Kaido’s IMA KOKO WATASHI, and Karada/Kriegskörper. Together with Luong/Neubauer/Liebhaber and filmmaker Franco Consales, he brought the audiovisual performance ALCHEMY to international stages. Beyond live performances, Neubauer’s discography spans numerous albums on various labels, and he remains active across a broad spectrum of diverse projects.
In the duo [e:ga‘l] with Bastian Buddenbrock, Neubauer explores the intersections of noise, theater, and performance art; together, they also curate Solips, a platform for interdisciplinary art based in Wuppertal. Beyond that, he engages in curatorial work, including for programs at ORT, at Loch, and for Moers Festival. Other ensembles he has worked with include KNYNS, Nasssau, Glossa, The Dorf, the Wuppertal Improvisation Orchestra, the London Improvisers Orchestra, and GLIS GLIS. He is also the organist for the psychedelic folk band The Düsseldorf Düsterboys.
His artistic practice is characterized by an open approach to sound, instrumentation, and form. He questions traditional notions of the finished artwork and understands music as a dynamic, process-based phenomenon. Rather than reproducing fixed aesthetic or stylistic templates, he embraces ambiguity: loud can appear quiet, irony can feel sincere, complexity can become sensual. Elements of chance, intuitive structures, and a sensitive handling of sonic and performative parameters play a central role in his work. His musical vocabulary includes electronic feedback, no-input techniques, and objects and materials alongside classical instrumentation.
He rejects artistic conformity as well as calculated provocation, viewing his work not as a finished product but as a continuous experiment. His practice resists rigid categorization, moving freely between improvised music, contemporary composition, noise, and electroacoustic sound art. His work reflects a critical engagement with musical conventions and broader social and aesthetic questions. At the same time, playful curiosity, humor, and a serious naivety shape his artistic process. He pursues an identity defined not by boundaries, but by openness.
Fabian Neubauer lives and works in Wuppertal, Germany.