Urs Bollhalder was born on May 28 1981, in St. Gallen, Switzerland. He played the trumpet first and was, at the age of 16, the youngest member of the Swiss Youth Jazz Orchestra. Before that he had already played a vast amount of concerts inside and outside of Switzerland and had written several commissioned compositions for Big Bands and Choirs.During his collaboration as a trumpet player with the Swiss Youth Jazz Orchestra, where he played with guest soloists like Randy Brecker, Bob Berg and Franco Ambrosetti, his fascination for the piano grew steadily. Urs had already received piano lessons for several years, and he finallly decided to dedicate himself entirely to becoming a pianist.In June 2006 Urs Bollhalder graduated from the jazz department of the Musikhochschule Lucerne with highest marks and distinction. He was awarded a prize by the Friedl-Wald Foundation as well as one by the Ida & Albert Flersheim Foundation. Urs Bollhalder studied in Lucerne with a.o. Jean Paul Brodbeck, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Hans Feigenwinter, Chris Wiesendanger and Christof Stiefel.
In Switzerland and South Africa he attended masterclasses by Abdullah Ibrahim and took composition lessons with Django Bates in London.In 2006 he formed his own trio Bollhalder/Bossard/Müller with Raffaele Bossard on double bass and Christoph Müller on drums.Together with Lionel Friedli he can be heard with the Heiri Känzig Trio (Vienna Art Orchestra, Trio Depart a.o.).He is also currently working with African singer Namusoke.The trio Bollhalder/Bossard/Müller was selected to perform in March 2008 at the 12Points Festival of new European Jazz in Dublin, Ireland.
