Born in Ramsdorf in 1960, Clemens Rave studied with Gregor Weichert, Vitaly Margulis, Peter Feuchtwanger and Renate Kretschmar-Fischer. After Conrad Hansen, Sergiu Celebidache also became one of his most important mentors. In addition to his extensive international concert activities in Europe, Asia and America, Clemens Rave is Professor of piano at Münster College of Music. He also teaches in Greece, France, Korea and the Netherlands.
Clemens Rave has performed numerous world premieres including works by Michael Denhoff, Jo Kondo, Walter Zimmermann, Winfried Michel and Katarzyna Brochocka. He has also worked with composers such as Helmut Lachenmann and Edison Denisov as well as conductors Kent Nagano, Paavo Järvi and Daniel Harding. He has participated in numerous radio and CD recordings including the piano works of Jehan Alain and, with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, works by Richard Strauss. Most recently, Clemens Rave performed the Beethoven sonata cycle and all the Mozart sonatas.