Following a brief hip-hop career and a stab at minimal techno, Volker Bertelmann veered into prepared piano composition in the mid-'00s. Taking the name Hauschka, the Düsseldorf musician approached the piano as a mere starting point, extending its natural rhythm and sculpting new sounds from its keys and strings. His experiments soon expanded into classical collaborations and evocative scores for screen and stage that loop and layer short keyboard figures, as well as vibrant solo work with a strong pulse that evokes the club and hip-hop music of his youth.