ILJA RUF is a pianist, composer, singer and clarinetist. Whether solo, with his trio, or with a large orchestra or big band, Ilja writes and performs music brought to life by his inner urge to express himself in the various languages of music. Building on his classical training, he feels at home in multiple styles, from jazz to classical, pop, tango, klezmer, film, and orchestral music. At a young age, he won essential jazz prizes and nominations for record awards. He studied jazz piano with Richie Beirach and Joanne Brackeen at Berklee College of Music

Based on the traditional jazz trio line-up, the ILJA RUF TRIO plays a fresh and trendy jazz sound. In Hannes Pries and Niklas Müller, Ilja Ruf found two like-minded musicians equally at home in jazz, pop, classical, and world music. These influences can also be heard in Ilja Ruf’s instrumental compositions and songs, which could not be more emotional and engaging. Driven by the joy of discovery, he expands his sound and creates a program in which musical depth, improvisation, and entertainment flow harmoniously into one another in a unique way.

As a pianist, Ilja Ruf plays with the Swedish trombonist Nils Landgren, among others. His debut solo album, “Ilja_19 – acoustic album,” was nominated for the 2021 German Record Critics‘ Award in the Singer/Songwriter category. On the album “Utopia – Dialogues in Jazz With My Grandparents,” released in November 2022, Ilja Ruf enters into a musical dialog with the German jazz veteran, saxophonist Bernd Konrad. Growing up in a musical family as the son of Grammy-nominated conductor Bernd Ruf and brother of Ivo Ruf, deputy principal clarinetist of the SWR Symphonieorchester Stuttgart, it was already clear to Ilja Ruf as a child that he wanted to become a musician. During his school years, he studied at the Pre-College of the Lübeck University of Music, then at the Popakademie Baden-Württemberg in Mannheim, and then at the renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston.