Seth Josel

Seth Josel

Seth Josel, originally from New York, now resides in Berlin. As a soloist he has concertized throughout Europe, Israel, the US and Canada. He has performed as a guest with leading orchestras and ensembles of Europe, including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, Staatskappelle Berlin and the Schönberg Ensemble (Amsterdam), and has appeared at several major European festivals including the Salzburg Festspiele, Ars Musica, Donaueschingen, Holland Festival, Munich Biennale and London’s South Bank Festival. From 1991 till 2000 he was a permanent member of the Ensemble Musikfabrik NRW, devoted to the performance of contemporary music.

As ensemble player and soloist Seth Josel has been involved in the first performances of more than 100 works. He has collaborated and consulted closely with such composers as Andriessen, Kagel, Lachenmann and Tenney. In addition, he has been highly committed to working with several of the leading young composers of our time, including Ablinger, Barrett, Corbett, Czernowin, and Stahnke, all of whom have written works featuring his talents.

He has released solo CDs on CRI and O.O. Discs. In addition to having published articles on issues related to New Art Music, Seth Josel is co-founder of “www.sheerpluck.de“, a website dedicated to contemporary guitar music, online since the summer of 2003.

He has acquired degrees from the Manhattan School of Music and Yale. His teachers included Manuel Barrueco, Eliot Fisk and harpsichordist Richard Rephann; as well, he has participated in the master classes of Oscar Ghiglia and Andrés Segovia.


Peter Ablinger: 33-127 (mode 206)
Luciano Berio: The Complete Sequenzas and Works for Solo Instruments (mode 161-163)
Gavin Bryars: The Marvellous Aphorisms of Gavin Bryars:
The Early Years
(mode 177)
Chaya Czernowin: MAIM (mode 219)

Seth Josel online

Composers