THOMAS GANSCH

Early years:
I was born on December 31, 1975 in St. Pölten, Austria, and grew up in nearby Melk.

I received early instructions from my father Johann Gansch senior, who himself was crazy about music, had his own music school for brass instruments and, in his function as Bandmaster of the City of Melk’s Marching Band and composer, bore the unofficial title: "King of Marches from Lower Austria".

At that time my role model and paragon was – and, among many others, still is today – my brother Hans, who, at that time, was still playing in the symphony orchestra of ORF (Austrian State TV and Broadcasting) in Vienna.
At around 1989, after years of constant and uninterrupted consumption of brass music, I saw for the first time jazz in the guise of John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie in the TV, an experience having a strong and lasting impact on my life.
After having finished “beloved” compulsory school attendance, I took out in 1991 to enroll at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna (Graduate School for Music and Performing Arts) as a student in Applied Music with Trumpet as a Major. There I kept studying until 1997 without any officially documented proof of success.

In those six years of studying and learning one thing became crystal clear to me – I knew what I didn’t want to do. So I quit.
A great success during my years as a student is beyond any doubt the foundation of the ensemble "Mnozil Brass" in 1992/93. And in 1997 finally, the time was just right to “come out” and to indulge my real passion also in public – jazz music. I can still recall most vividly my first session at the Porgy&Bess where I showed up together with Georg Breinschmid.
Both of us were completely nervous – just like we’ve had learned in our classical studies – resulting in the fact that afterwards we were asked right on the spot by Mathias Rüegg whether we would want to join his Vienna Art Orchestra, where I was playing from 1998 to 2006. And that time at the VAO is what I call my "real" years of studies. Never ever before had I met so many exciting personalities in music being in the lucky position to learn from almost everyone lots and lots of experience. It was also in the VAO where I was encouraged and supported to create and launch my own music project – hence, in 2001 Gansch & Roses was born...


Bands/Orchestras:
Among others I was playing with the following orchestras and musicians:
Wiener Staatsopernorchester,Vereinigte Bühnen Wien, Celia Mara Band, Wr. Symphoniker, Ensemble Pro Brass, Niederösterreichisches Tonkünstlerorchester, Art of Brass Vienna,Nouvelle Cuisine, Salonorchester Alhambra, Burgtheater, Dr Kurt Ostbahn, Vienna Art Orchestra, Concert Jazz Orchestra Vienna, Patti Smith, Konstantin Wecker, Bob Brookmayer, Alegre Correa Group and many others.

Awards:
2006 Nomination as "Musician of the Year"
2002 Hans Koller Jazz Award as "Newcomer des Jahres"

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