Hans Josef Winkler was born in Paderborn in 1965. At the University for Music Detmold he studied composition with Prof. Walter Steffens and piano with Guenther Herzfeld and Prof. Erika Kilcher. From 1992 to 1999 he taught historical composition at Paderborn University, from 1994 to 2005 he taught at the University of Music Detmold. From 2005 to 2011 he teaches at the University of Church Music Herford. In addition to his work as composer and pianist, he produced since 1999, along with the sound engineer Georg Stahl, the Xsample Library, a collection of high quality acoustic virtual instruments. Since 2014 he produce a extended modular Xsample Library for Kontakt.
His compositions has been performed at Tanglewood Festival (USA), in Osaka (Japan), Santa Fe (USA), Spain, at Bratislava Cultural Summer (Slowakia) and at the Berlin Philharmony (Germany). Several of his compositions have been broadcasted in Germany (WDR and MDR). At the Third Weimar Spring Days of Contemporary Music 2002 Winkler won a first price for his composition "Perché" for soprano and chamber ensemble. He received composition grants from Weimar Franz-Liszt-Society and Dalheim Music Summer 2001. Winkler’s work contained compositions for piano, organ, accordion, electronic, chambermusic, songs, opera, choir and orchestra. His compositions are available through the publishing-houses Dohr (Cologne), Rob. Forberg (Ricordi) and since march 2009 through Vierdreiunddreissig, Munich.
He worked together with musicians and ensembles, e.g. Duo Nebl & Nebl, Ensemble Horizonte, Trio Trialogue, New Music Ensemble Aachen, Danish Chamber Players, Ensemble unitedberlin, Johannes Quack, Manfred Fabricius, Michael Wolf and Moritz Ernst.
Since 2007 he performs with various musicians. From 2009 to 2013 he worked together with Irina Shilina (dulcimer) and Piotr Techmanski (clarinet / saxophone).