Background
When he started improvising and composing in his early teens, his father enrolled him in the jazz department at the Luxembourg Conservatory where he studied harmony, composition, improvisation and ensemble.
When he started improvising and composing in his early teens, his father enrolled him in the jazz department at the Luxembourg Conservatory where he studied harmony, composition, improvisation and ensemble.
During his training in Boston, Reis studied, worked and performed with Joe Lovano, Danilo Perez, Dave Holland, George Garzone, Ran Blake, Frank Carlberg, Esperanza Spalding, Hal Crook and Greg Hopkins.
Born in Luxembourg City, Reis began to play the piano when he was 8. To further his musical training, Reis moved to Boston, Master of Arts to study at Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory of Music, obtaining first a Bachelor of Medicine and then a Military Medal in jazz piano and composition. In 2010, Reis participated in the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Foundation Workshop in Memory of Buddy Baker, led by film composers Bruce Broughton, Mark Snow, Ira Newborn and David Spear, with whom he has remained a part-time student.
Michel Reis has released five albums as a leader and co-leader: A Young Mind (2005) and Fairytale (2009) for Waltzing-Parke Records, Point of Number Return (2011) for Armored Records, Hidden Meaning (2012) for Double Moon Records / Challenge Records International as well as with the collective Trio “Reis Demuth Wiltgen” for the French label Laborie Jazz (2013).
Currently living between New York City and Luxembourg, Michel Reis has performed internationally in many of the world’s most famous venues and festivals, including the Blue Note Jazz Club, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Olympia in Paris, the Casa de Musica in Porto, the 55 Bar, the Knitting Factory, the Panama Jazz Festival the Montreux Jazz Festival, Cully Jazz, Crest Jazz Vocal, OctLoft Jazz Festival, Les Rendez-Vous de l’Erdre de Nantes and many more. In 2005, Reis was a finalist in the First Moscow Competition for Jazz Performers.
A year later, he took second prize at the Montreux Jazz Solo Piano Competition.