Lex Korten

Lex Korten (b. 1994) was born and raised in New York City. Surrounded by an enormous rotating library of music in the household, Lex fell in love with Jazz around the age of 10 after being exposed to the sounds of Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk. He found his first mentor, Brooks Hartell, through the backpack newsletter of his elementary school (P.S. 87), and was guided into the life-changing discoveries of Wynton Kelly and Jaki Byard, amongst many other lifelong heroes. Lex’s development continued at the Stanford Jazz Workshop in California for 6 summers; he also studied throughout high school with Taylor Eigsti and eventually Fred Hersh. Lex was awarded by the National YoungArts Foundation for Jazz Piano/Composition before graduating in 2012 from the High School for Math, Science and Engineering in Harlem.

Lex attended the University of Michigan to study with Geri Allen while pursuing a dual degree in political science. His years of close proximity with the scene and history of Detroit marked an extremely transformative period, thanks also to a tight group of inspired peers and an unforgettable cross-collaborative community in Ann Arbor. Lex was mentored closely for two years by renowned pianist Benny Green and also learned from Marcus Belgrave, Robert Hurst, Andrew Bishop, Ellen Rowe and Rodney Whitaker in the classroom and on the bandstand.

After graduating with his BFA in Jazz Studies in 2016, Lex Korten returned to New York City. Since then, he has established himself as a crucial young voice drawing a common thread between many different communities surrounding Jazz and improvised music. This is shown clearly by the kind of bandleaders who are seeking him out, from Ari Hoenig to Joe Farnsworth, Caroline Davis and Tyshawn Sorey for starters. He’s lucky enough to be central in the musical activity of his generation’s most ambitious leaders including Joel Ross, Morgan Guerin, Simon Moullier, Sasha Berliner, Ben Solomon and countless others. Korten is also a prolific writer and bandleader with several ongoing projects due to be recorded soon. His solo piano debut "Foreword" released on June 18, 2021. He aims to learn from his peers, elders and youngers while continuing to compose and lend his voice to the dialogue occurring in the world of improvised Black American Music.

​Korten has taught in an official capacity at The New School and Long Island University, and also has taught private lessons to students at prestigious conservatories including Oberlin, the Manhattan School of Music, and the Frost School of Music in Miami. He has also taught masterclasses at UNC Greensboro, the University of Rochester, the University of Michigan and LACHSA.

​Lex Korten's performance schedule has brought him to some of the most lucrative stages in the world including: The Kennedy Center, The McCarter Theatre, The Library of Congress, Hill Auditorium, Winter Jazz Fest, Earshot Jazz Festival, DC Jazz Festival, Rochester Jazz Festival, Atlanta Jazz Festival, Detroit Jazz Festival, AAPI Jazz Festival, Zandari Festa (Seoul, SK), The Kitchen, Roulette, Symphony Space, ZK Matthews Hall (Pretoria, ZA), The University of North Texas, Temple University, The University of Rochester, Berklee College of Music, and virtually all major Jazz Clubs in NYC as well as in cities like Detroit, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami, London and more.