Jens Joneleit was born in Offenbach am Main in Germany (1968). In 1990, he moved to the United States to study art and music at the University of South Dakota (BFA, 1994) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison (MFA, 1997). He returned to Germany in 2004 to pursue artistic endeavors in the visual arts, music, and also filmmaking.

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His paintings and other visual works have been the subject of numerous gallery shows as well as contemporary art-convention exhibitions in the United States and Europe. His visual works have been and continue to be sought after by both private and institutional collectors internationally. Accomplishments in the visual arts include a major solo exhibition of ten large scale paintings at "Halle am Wasser", Berlin in September 2010 opened with a key-note by Prof. Christina Weiss (former minister of cultural affairs 2002-05).

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As a musician, Jens Joneleit has been a drummer since childhood and has performed, recorded and produced numerous albums based on his own compositions for releases with various international figures such as Roscoe Mitchell (The Art Ensemble of Chicago) and

Ali Neander (Rodgau Monotones).

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As a composer Jens Joneleit has been commissioned for and has written numerous compositions for orchestras, ensembles and chamber groups in Europe and the United States. 

 

In 2006, Jens Joneleit received the Ernst von Siemens Music Composer Award and in 2010 the Culture-Prize of the City of Rodgau - the keynote was presented by composer and director Prof. Heiner Goebbels.

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In music, Jens Joneleit is also known as a composer for music-theatre works and opera. After his first music-theatre work DER BRAND (Stuttgart, 2007) and then PIERO (Munich & Frankfurt, 2008), in 2010, his opera METANOIA was commissioned and premiered by the Berlin State Opera, conducted by Daniel Barenboim.

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He has also been featured in three different international film festivals with a short film music video that he directed called DIVE. He has recently focused some of his attention on writing a number of original screenplays and has finished his first novel, called EVER AGAIN.

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Jens Joneleit currently has residences in both Germany and the United States.