meet the artist Stephan Maass

Stephan Maass Biography

Born in 1967 in Bad Homburg, Germany, Stephan Maass grew up in Bavaria, spent nearly two decades living and working in Vienna, and returned to Bavaria in 2012. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential and in-demand percussionists of his generation. Over the course of his career, he has contributed to more than 700 recordings as well as numerous film and television productions, shaping the sound of international music and media projects for decades.

His work has received multiple Gold and Platinum Awards, including the Amadeus Award 2005 for Best National Pop Production as producer of Persönlich by Georg Danzer (together with Dieter Kolbeck). Musically, Stephan Maass represents an exceptionally wide stylistic range—from jazz productions such as Colin Towns’ Mask Orchestra (UK) and the NDR Big Band to Austrian pop icons like Rainhard Fendrich, international pop artists including Mousse T., and electronic projects such as Kruder & Dorfmeister. In the field of world music, he has developed a distinctive personal voice, leading to collaborations with Michael Shrieve on the album Drums of Compassion, alongside artists such as Airto, Zakir Hussain, and Jack DeJohnette.

Maass has gained international recognition through his work with Grammy-winning producers and award-winning film composers. As a producer, he has worked with major labels including Universal and Sony BMG. In parallel, he is a highly respected performer, educator, and clinician, regularly appearing at leading festivals and events such as Superdrumming, the Meinl Drum Festival, and the Meinl Percussion Festival, where he has shared the stage with artists including Benny Greb, Ralf Gustke, and Jojo Mayer. His work and artistic approach have been featured in in-depth interviews by leading industry magazines such as drums&percussion, sticks, and idrummag.

Since 2007, Stephan Maass has served as Professor of Jazz Percussion at the Anton Bruckner Private University in Linz, Austria, while conducting workshops and masterclasses worldwide. Touring internationally since the early 1990s, he has performed on stages across the globe. Through his label maassmusic, he develops musical and percussive concepts for theater, dance productions, and film scores, collaborating with internationally renowned artists such as Terry Hands, former director of the Royal Shakespeare Company. His compositions have also been featured in productions by Universum Film, Formula 1, and Red Bull Media House.

From 2015 to 2024, Maass served on the advisory board of Austria’s national Podium jazz.pop.rock… competition as part of Musik der Jugend. From 2021 to 2025, he was President of Percussion Creativ e. V., the largest German-speaking community for drummers and percussionists in Europe. In 2024, he was nominated among the Top 5 worldwide in the World Percussion category in the readers’ poll of the prestigious U.S. magazine Modern Drummer.

Country: Germany