Kai Schumacher’s Insomnia is the story of a nocturnal journey, reassuring and disturbing at the same time, both mystical and unpredictable. Insomnia is the aimless wanderings of the Sleepless One, through inner and outer worlds that remains hidden during the harsh light of day. Insomnia is five Hymns to the Night, composed by five American composers over a period of nearly 100 years. When taken together these five works are the perfect soundtrack for a journey through the long hours after the sun has set. Kai Schumacher’s deeply thoughtful style of playing blurs the boundaries of the classical avant-garde and pop culture without getting stuck in all-too familiar crossover paths. One focus of his solo repertoire has been American piano music of the late 20th-21st c. His debut album of Frederic Rzewski’s monumental variation cycle The people united will never be defeated! (2010) was celebrated by FonoForum magazine as "a pianistic sensation". With his second album Transcriptions (2013), he ventured into the musical heroes of his youth - Rage Against the Machine, Nirvana, Slayer, etc., transforming the concert grand in his piano remixes into a tone generator of monstrous proportions, sound effects board or a set of tuned percussion instruments.
