HANS CHRISTIAN
Recording, performing and producing music for over 35 years,
Hans Christian has created a legacy of projects across a wide spectrum of musical styles,
from East Indian to Rock Roll to Ambient Melodic music.
His unique ability as cellist/bassist/multi instrumentalist and his deep musicality can be heard on his 24 original releases
(including six CDs with RASA) and on countless recordings with other artists.
As a performer, Hans has graced the stages with some top level artists while also having performed
and recorded in some very esoteric environments.
He has extensively toured North America, Mexico, and Europe as a solo performer and with other artists.
Hans is working as a producer out of STUDIO 330 in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.
Hans Christian has created a legacy of projects across a wide spectrum of musical styles,
from East Indian to Rock Roll to Ambient Melodic music.
His unique ability as cellist/bassist/multi instrumentalist and his deep musicality can be heard on his 24 original releases
(including six CDs with RASA) and on countless recordings with other artists.
As a performer, Hans has graced the stages with some top level artists while also having performed
and recorded in some very esoteric environments.
He has extensively toured North America, Mexico, and Europe as a solo performer and with other artists.
Hans is working as a producer out of STUDIO 330 in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.
Throughout his life as a composer, performer, and producer Hans Christian has been inspired to come up with music that induces introspection and melancholic passion. The cello has served perfectly as his voice of expression and it has spoken in so many different ways since his first release of original music in 1988.
Starting out at age nine as a student cellist Ulrich Haussdoerfer for 10 years, Hans eventually developed an interest in music that went beyond the classical repertoire. He was drawn to free improvisation, especially in his father's Gothic church, where the acoustics of the church played an important role in developing his musical ear.
As a fourteen year old, Hans started playing the bass guitar and continued to develop as a musician on both instruments. In 1982 he moved from Hanover, Germany to Hollywood, USA to study at Musicians Institute and pursue a career as a musician in the Los Angeles music scene, eventually performing and recording with a variety of luminaries, including Robbie Robertson, Gene Clarke, John Waite, Sparks, Billy Idol, and members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
While his first release in 1988 (Signals from Unterland) was still very raw and experimental, it served its purpose in blasting open the doors of creative expression, and he quickly set out to refine his sound on the next release, Hypnotized, released in 1989. This project started to resonate with audiences, and it showed Hans’ style as a composer and artist. Two more titles quickly followed with Phantoms, released in 1993 on the Mexican Lejos Del Paraiso label, and Surrender, released in 1996, which caught the ear of John Diliberto who gave it a generous review in Billboard magazine and who played it extensively on his nationally syndicated radio show Echoes.
In 1998 Hans met Washington DC based singer Kim Waters and together they started to record music under the name RASA, signing with the Hearts Of Space label for three CDs (Devotion, Union, In Concert), followed by three more releases on New Earth Records (Shelter, Temple Of Love, Saffron Blue). Several national tours were undertaken between 2001 and 2006 and to this day, RASA fans around the world are treasuring the recordings of Kim and Hans. Visit RASA here...
In 2004 Hans released a CD of instrumental arrangements of Renaissance madrigals called Light & Spirit, followed by a cinematic project in 2007 called Cinema Of Dreams, a CD that continued in a similar vein of the afore mentioned Surrender.
2008 opened a whole new musical chapter with an invitation by Wisdom University to perform at Chartres cathedral in France for a week long retreat. This invitation was extended five more times and afforded Hans rare opportunities to perform and record in the cathedral, in the ancient crypt and in an adjoining former monastery. Three CDs were recorded on location at Chartres: Sancta Camisia in 2008, Undefended Heart in 2010, and All Is Well in 2011. Hans also connected with internationally recognized teacher Andrew Harvey at Chartres who invited him to collaborate on a project called Rumi Symphony. This double CD was released in 2011 and features Andrew’s amazing readings of Rumi and a captive musical score by Hans.
In 2012 a notable connection with Canadian slide guitarist and blues artist Harry Manx led to a recording project called You Are The Music Of My Silence and to several live performances around the country. In the same year, Hans joined the GuruGanesha Band for a number of extensive tours throughout North America, including the 2013 MantraFest tour with Deva Premal and Miten. Hans produced a live CD for the GuruGanesha Band from this tour called Live In Concert.
In 2014 another solo CD called Hidden Treasures was released just in time for a West Coast tour with Tina Malia, followed by a fully orchestrated CD in 2015 on New Earth Records called Nanda Devi.
2016 saw the release of a compilation of select Hans cello performances by Sounds True called Moments Of Grace- the meditative cello music of Hans Christian. Two more CDs were born in 2017, including Source- a deep sonic exploration into the world of gongs; and Be Love, a collaboration with superbly gifted singer Jim Beckwith.
2020 brought the release of an epic 66 min CD called After The Fall, offering up an in-depth journey towards darker colors with vintage electronica, neo-classical string work, and cinematic sound design.
Ongoing collaborations with other artists (Jim Gelcer/Toronto, Andy Mitran&Al Jewer/Chicago, Holly Olm/Door County) lead to multiple streaming releases in 2021 and 2022. Hans was nominated for 'Producer of the Year' in 2022 at the Josie Music Awards, Nashville TN.
2023 also brought a new release called Ocean Dreaming Ocean with the legendary cellist David Darling on Curve Blue Records. This album was nominated for a Grammy ® in the New Age/Ambient/Chant category.
A new album called Melodiya, a collaboration with Los Angeles based producer Thomas Barquee, is scheduled for an August 1st, 2024 release.
Original Musical releases by Hans Christian:
- MELODIYA/ Hans Christian and Thomas Barquee (Allemande Music 2024)
- OCEAN DREAMING OCEAN/David Darling and Hans Christian (Curve Blue 2023)
- FANTAISIE BERCEUSE, DEEP DIVE 1, DEEP DIVE 2 (digital only 2023)
- MARIUPOL, RESISTANCE, WARRIOR SPIRIT, AS THINGS UNFOLD, with Jim Gelcer (digital only 2022)
- several tracks with Andy Mitran & Al Jewer (2021 and ongoing)
- AFTER THE FALL (Allemande Music 2020)
- BE LOVE/ with Jim Beckwith and Hans Christian (Allemande Music 2017)
- SOURCE/ A Sonic Immersion on Gongs and Tibetan bowls (Allemande Music 2017)
- MOMENTS OF GRACE (Sounds True 2016)
- NANDA DEVI (New Earth Records 2015)
- HIDDEN TREASURES (Allemande Music 2014)
- YOU ARE THE MUSIC OF MY SILENCE/with Harry Manx (Allemande Music 2012)
- RUMI SYMPHONY/ with Andrew Harvey (Allemande Music 2011)
- ALL IS WELL (Allemande Music 2011)
- UNDEFENDED HEART (Allemande Music 2010)
- SANCTA CAMISIA (Allemande Music 2008)
- CINEMA OF DREAMS (Allemande Music 2007)
- SAFFRON BLUE/RASA (New Earth Records 2007)
- TEMPLE OF LOVE/RASA (New Earth Records 2006)
- SHELTER/RASA (New Earth Records 2005)
- LIGHT & SPIRIT (New Earth Records 2004)
- IN CONCERT/RASA (Hearts Of Space 2003)
- UNION/RASA (Hearts Of Space 2001)
- DEVOTION/RASA (Hearts Of Space 2000)
- SURRENDER (Allemande Music 1996, remastered 2003)
- PHANTOMS (Allemande Music 1993, remastered 2003)
- HYPNOTIZED (Allemande Music 1989)
- SIGNALS FROM UNTERLAND (1988)