Carlo Heller

Artist residencies at SRM give artists free studio space and time to develop musical and artistic projects.
We welcomed Carlo Heller as a resident at the studio. Carlo is a Berlin-based composer and pianist whose musical education was shaped by classical training in piano and composition, alongside studies with Prof. Carsten Nicolai, also known as Alva Noto. In 2025, he released his first album, Recorded, captured on the 80-year-old family grand piano of Moritz von Oswald. That same year, he premiered Ground Return at the James-Simon-Gallery in Berlin, a work commissioned for the inauguration of Marion Ackermann as President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation.
In July 2026, Carlo graduated with his diploma project In Ambush, a multichannel sound installation exploring the attempt to disappear. The work takes as its starting point the moment a predator stalks its prey at dusk, gradually merging subject and environment.
During his time at the studio, Carlo developed new works for solo piano. By experimenting with different recording techniques, he explored the relationship between the piano and the studio, focusing on the subtle details, texture, and nuances that emerge between instrument and space.