German composer and viola player, born May 10, 1946 in Neumarkt St. Veit/Upper Bavaria; died April 27, 2004 in Zürich, Switzerland.
Stranz studied composition at the Musikhochschule München together with Peter Michael Hamel. In 1967, they both were part of the artist scene in Munich-Haidhausen, where they often met in a club called "Song Parnass". In the following years, they met several musicians from around the world there. In 1970, a group formed there, decided to form a band between Pop and Classical music. The band was first called B.A.C.H. and was eventually renamed to Between and Stranz played violin and viola in that band.
Stranz left the band after their debut album in 1973 and went to Utrecht, The Netherlands, where he attended courses at the Instituut Voor Sonologie Der Rijksuniversiteit, Utrecht for two years. In 1974, he settled down in Zürich, Switzerland. First in Germany, later in Switzerland, he was a prolific composer with a unique style, he had learned from his professor in Munich, Günter Bialas. All compositions were connected to string music, mainly violin.