I am Tillman Duft, born in Cologne (1999). My musical journey began with percussion before I specialized in guitar. I won several competitions, including Jugend Musiziert (2011, 2017), and studied under Ja-min Oh (Aachen), Sotiris Malasiotis (Cologne), and not the piano Arina Bönhoff (Freiburg).

Growing up in Cologne, I was strongly influenced by the city’s music scene. Concerts by artists such as Tommy Emmanuel, Paco De Lucía, Simon Rattle, and the Berlin Philharmonic, as well as electronic music by Zedd, Klagkuenstler and DjRum, shaped my musical development — and of course also the Karneval bands 🙂 I started composing at the age of nine, formed a rock band with Felix Schneider, and produced my first orchestral works on an iPad before transitioning to professional music software.

After completing my school exams with a focus on music (Abitur at Dietrich-Bonhoeffer Gymnasium Bergisch Gladbach, 2018), I studied musicology in Freiburg, specializing in composition, counterpoint, and music theory. My interest in the relationship between music and perception led me to pursue a master’s degree in systematic musicology with a focus on psychoacoustics. In 2022, I completed my studies and, in 2023, I began a degree in Music Design at the Hochschule für Musik Trossingen.