KYRYLO SHCHYPTSOV
​Guitarist Composer
Kyrylo Shchyptsov was born in Nikopol, Ukraine. At the age of 7 he received his first guitar lessons from his father. At the age of 15 he began his studies at the Music College in Dnipro with a major in classical guitar. After graduating with honors, he continued his studies in 2002 at the Odessa Music Academy. Kyrylo Shchyptsov came to Germany in 2009 with a bachelor's degree and studied at the University of the Arts in Bremen. After receiving his diploma in 2012, he completed his master's degree in 2015 at the Maastricht Conservatory in the Netherlands with Maestro Carlo Marchione. In 2016 Kyrylo Shchyptsov founded his own music-performance group "DOTYK Group" in which he works as a composer and guitarist. Since 2010 he has been a guitar teacher at the state music school in Bremen. In 2012 he released his first solo album, "Virtuoso Music for the Soul". 2016 premiered the first performance of the DOTYK Group, entitled "Two Essences-One Perception"; 2018 premiered the second production, "Lines of Life". In 2020 Kyrylo released his second solo album, "One Man Loop". Since 2021 Kyrylo has been in cooperation with drummer Gerhard Suhlrie as a permanent duo under the name DOTYK.
"I keep asking myself the question of the „genre“ of my music over and over again. It’s impossible for me to find an answer. My background in classical music and training is the baseline for every new piece, then I combine it with all different kinds of musical influences. I don’t like to stick to standards, instead I’m interested in welcoming and incorporating all kinds of genres into my work.
GERHARD SUHLRIE
drummer
Gerhard Suhlrie, born in Bremen, Germany, began making music and played concerts from a young age, especially in church and pop music.
In elementary school it became increasingly clear that the instruments nearest to his heart were of
the percussive world. Set in his goal to become a professional drummer, he began taking lessons with established and renowned drummers. Important stations were Errol A.C. Harewood, Egon Behrens, Charly Antolini and Masakazu Nishimine.
After some years living in Saarland a as a child and forming his first bands, he moved back to Bremen in the beginning of the 80s. There, Gerhard played, still a school student, with the Jazz Orchestra and the Uni Orchestra of Bremen university. From the age of 16 he could finally accept gigs where there were no more performance restrictions for him: Projects like „Die Legende vom toten Soldaten”, various Big Bands, Jazztrio Lick followed. After school, he enrolled at the Bremen college of the arts as a student of classical and modern drums. In addition to the successful final concert exam in 1995, he was awarded several prices and recognitions over the course of the years, e.g. the award for outstanding soloist at the Jazzfest Pinneberg in 2006.
until 1996:
- several years of close collaboration with the Staatorchester Oldenburg and the Philharmonic
Orchestra Bremen
- Drumset and timpani with the Kurorchester Bad Wildbad
- 2006 awardee as soloist and with band at the Jazzfest Pinneberg
- until 2014: percussions and timpani with the „Roncalli meets Classic” by the famed Roncalli Circus
- longtime member of the Japanese drumming group „Masa Daiko”
- until today: artistic contribution to a high number of CD-releases of many genres, including classical music, jazz, rock, pop, freely improvised and many more (Evita, BigBandBremen, Blue Man Group, O-Ton, Ensemble, several jazz groups and classical music productions)
- performances and concert tours throughout Europe and the USA
- Studio and live performances with state-run radio stations (NDR, MDR and RB)
- ensemble DOTYK with guitarist and composer Kyrylo Shchyptsov
- long time music instructor and teacher