W. Brett Youens was born in Weimar, Texas, U.S.A., in 1974.

After completing his studies in Music Theory, Composition and German at the University of Texas at Austin, Brett moved to Germany to concentrate on composition and piano performance, where he earned a degree in Piano Pedagogy in 2005.

He has written numerous concert and pedagogical works, including the piano method, "Snowman's Dream", a brain-friendly way of accelerating the piano learning process, the various volumes of which have now appeared in more than 30 editions.

In 2003 his Ragtime CD “Elite Syncopations” was released to rave reviews. He was awarded the 2nd Prize in Composition at the “World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest” in 2005, 2009, and 2013 and performs annually at the “Scott Joplin International Ragtime Festival”.

His compositions (e.g. his Op. 1 “25 Pieces in 24 Keys for the Learning of Perfect Pitch”) are published by Waldkauz, Internationaler Sternscher, and by Youens himself. His ragtime musical “The Gift of the Magi” was given its premiere in Texas in 2007.

His Youtube videos for learning brass instruments have been watched more than 200,000 times. Youens currently resides in Tübingen, Germany where he is active as a teacher, composer, and pianist.