Biography
Nicolas (Andrzej) Safjan was born in 1996 in Sierre/VS. As the son of a musician father, he was very quickly introduced to music and the world of the performing arts. After trying out the piano, his parents gave him a drum set for his tenth birthday. It was love at first sight. During his school years, he took part in several projects organized by his school, such as arrangements for plays and performances. He attends high school where he decides to major in music, which allows him to further develop his musical knowledge and his love of experimentation. He is involved in all kinds of music projects and joins his father in a rock/pop/blues cover band at the age of 16.
Determined to turn his passion into a career, he applied for the entrance exam to the Hochschule für Musik Basel / Jazzcampus. and failed properly. He didn't give up and took a year to catch up, spending 7-8 hours a day on the instrument. He passed the entrance exams at three of the Swiss music academies and opted for the Hochschule für Musik Basel / Jazzcampus.
There he studied for five years with professors such as Vic Hardt, Julio Barreto, Jeff Ballard, Christian Lillinger, Gregory Hutchinson, Jorge Rossy, Lester Menezes, Adrian Mears, Mathieu Michel and Larry Grenadier and took part in a variety of projects, from big band to solo performances.
In September 2021, he completed his studies with a Bachelor of Arts in Music FHNW and a Master of Arts in Music / Musicpedagogy FHNW, both of which obtained with honours.
His first album “Healing Process” was released in 2020 and is a mixture of all his influences, from Phil Collins to Kamasi Washington and Christian Scott.
Nicolas Safjan can currently be seen on stage alongside Giuila Dabalà, James Iwa, Arbajo Jairus, Gerah as well as with his projects released under his own name. He is also a teacher of music education at secondary schools in Tramelan and Tavannes and gives private lessons in Basel.