Held was born on 27 December 1986. He is from Hagen. His father played the piano and introduced him to the music of Federico Mompou. Held was also influenced and taught by pianist John Taylor. Held won the WDR Improvisation Prize in 2011.
Parts of a concert with guitarist John Scofield in Cologne in January 2014 were released as The Trio Meets John Scofield.
Held’s album Recondita Armonia was reviewed by Down Beat: „Held puts an individual spin on the typical ballad album by drawing on all classical themes.”
Pianist Kit Downes observed that Held „has developed a way of performing with his trio where all 3 of them know each others parts for every tune – so anyone can cue any part of any tune by just playing a small part of it (even if it’s in the middle of another tune) – so that they then seamlessly link in other material to the mix”.
