Born in 1953 in Basel, Switzerland, Fritz Hauser develops solo programmes for drums and percussion which he performs worldwide; cross-media works with dancer/choreographer Anna Huber and architect Boa Baumann and director Barbara Frey; compositions for percussion ensembles and soloists, sound installations, radio plays and music for films and readings. In the field of improvised music he has worked with numerous musicians and since the Stockholm International Percussion Event in 1998 he has collaborated with many percussion groups and soloists around the world.

"Hauser’s ear for timbre and texture, density and dynamics, informs his compositions. A single woodblock, or snare, or cymbal penetrates the existential emptiness, finds common ground with the addition of other instruments. Metallic tones shimmer or rasp in an illusion of electronics. A linear pulse is expanded, layered, or multiplied, registers as the complex momentum of thought. Rhythmic patterns as motion studies – static, kinetic, but always disciplined – occupy space with sculptural multi-dimen- sionality. Silence is rigid or fluid. Colors resonate as in a Rothko or Hofmann canvas – soft, muted, detached, or lustrous, lucid, keen. But like all music, it is aimed at the ear, not the eye. It is best heard in total darkness, with an open mind." – Art Lange

"Mr Hauser is simply one of the best drummers alive; when he's finished with one of his improvised concerts, you leave with a new understanding of his drums' anatomy, their exact range of sound. You don't miss the rest of the rhythm section, and you learn that when a musician possesses such extraordinary touch and a sensitivity to pulse, "abstract" never means "haphazard"." - The New York Times