Marlies Debacker is a Belgian pianist working in contemporary classical and experimental music. Equally at home in both notated new music and improvised music, Marlies has developed and refined her voice as an emerging pianist working at the intersection of interpretation and improvisation.
As a soloist, Marlies creates exciting recital projects like the program Stromklavier – music for piano and electronics. She performs with her own chamber music groups and is frequently invited to perform with ensembles like Ensemble Musikfabrik, ICTUS, Kammerelektronik, Ensemble Garage, hand werk, Ensemble S201 and Contemporary Insights.
Marlies has closely worked with composers Franck Bedrossian, Marco Momi, Mark Andre, Giorgio Netti, Michael Edwards, Roman Pfeifer, Haukur Þór Harðarson and Rachel C. Walker.
2016 she founded Trio Abstrakt – one of the leading chamber music groups of its generation – which regularly performs at major festivals of contemporary music and currently works towards the premieres of new works by composers Giorgio Netti (2024), Isabel Mundry (2025), Alberto Posadas (2025), Franck Bedrossian (2026), Milica Djordjević (2026) and many more.
As an improviser, Marlies has cultivated a distinguished musical language that draws from her experiences in working in contemporary music while at the same time pursuing playfulness. She performed an improvised solo at the Berliner Jazzfest 2023 at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele.
In 2022, she released her debut Solo CD Shimmer (2022, Sirulita records) with her own improvisations and compositions on Sirulita records. For her work as an improviser, she was nominated for the ‘Deutscher Jazzpreis’ 2023, category piano. Her newest duo CD Convolution (2024, Impakt records) with saxophonist Salim(a) Javaid was nominated for the ‘Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik’.
Marlies composed and performed the music for two large-scale theater works by Frank Castorf at Schauspiel Köln: Aus dem bürgerlichen Heldenleben (2020) and MOLIÈRE: Ich bin ein Dämon, Fleisch geworden und als Mensch verkleidet (2022).
She performs at various international festivals such as Milano Musica, Acht Brücken Köln, Biennale del arte Venezia, NOW!-Festival Essen, Jazzfest Berlin, Moers Festival, IMPULS Graz, PGNM Biennale Aktueller Musik Bremen, Serious Series Berlin, Magnet Festival Wiesbaden and many more, and was awarded scholarships by the InSzene program (Podium Gegenwart/Deutscher Musikrat), Deutsche Orchester-Stiftung and Kulturamt Stadt Köln and is currently being supported by NICA artist development.
Following her piano studies at the Koninklijk Conservatorium Antwerpen (BE), Marlies completed her Master in Improvisation at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln (DE) and her Master of New Music with Prof. Barbara Maurer (formerly Ensemble Recherche) & Benjamin Kobler (Ensemble Musikfabrik) at the Folkwang Universität der Künste Essen (DE), where she’s currently enrolled in the Konzertexamen program with Trio Abstrakt.
She further deepened her skills as an interpreter by performing and participating in courses including International Ensemble Modern Academy (IEMA Klangspuren), Impuls Festival/Academy (with Nicolas Hodges & Anna D’Errico) and Darmstädter Ferienkurse (Studio Nicolas Hodges).
Marlies currently teaches piano, free improvisation and contemporary piano techniques at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln.
