Performer Biography

Sir András Schiff is world-renowned as pianist, conductor, pedagogue and lecturer. He brings masterful and intellectual insights to his performances,which have inspired audiences and critics alike. Born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1953, Sir András studied piano at the Liszt Ferenc Academy with Pal Kadosa, György Kurtág and Ference Rados; and in London with George Malcome.

He has performed cycles of complete Beethoven sonatas as well as projects including the complete works of J.S. Bach, Haydn, Schubert, and Bartok which constitute an important part of his work. Having collaborated with the world’s leading orchestras and conductors, he now focuses primarily on solo recital, play-conducting appearances and exclusive conducting projects. His Bach has become an annual highlight at the BBC Proms and he regularly performs at the Verbier, Salzburg, and Baden-Baden Festivals as well as Wigmore Hall. This season in North America he will perform all Mozart programs in Quebec, Carnegie Hall, and Chicago’s Symphony Hall.

Vicenza is home to Cappella Andrea Barca, his own chamber orchestra consisting of international soloists, chamber musicians and friends founded in 1999. Together they have appeared at Carnegie Hall, Lucerne Festival, and Salzburg Mozartwoche, while forthcoming projects include a tour of Asia and a cycle of Bach’s keyboard concertos in Europe. He currently curates at festival in Vicenza at the Teatro Olimpico.

Sir András enjoys close relationships with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. In 2018 he accepted the role of Associated Artist with the OAE, complementing his interest in performing on period keyboard instruments.

With a prolific discography, he established an exclusive relationship in 1997 with Producer Manfred Eicher and ECM New Series. Highlights have included the complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas recorded live from Zurich, solo recitals of Schubert, Schumann, and Janáček, as well as J.S. Bach’s Partitas, Goldberg Variations, and Well-Tempered Clavier. His most recent discs were the two Brahms Concerti with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment on period instruments in June 2021.

He continues to support new talent, primarily through his “Building Bridges” series, which gives performance opportunities to promising young artists. He also teaches at the Barenboim-Said and Kronberg academies and gives frequent lectures and masterclasses. In 2017 his book Music Comes from Silence, essays and conversations with Martin Meyer, was published by Bärenreiter and Henschel.

Sir András Schiff’s many honors include the International Mozarteum Foundation’s Golden Medal (2012), Germany’s Great Cross of Merit with Star (2012, the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Gold Medal (2013), a Knighthood for Services to Music (2014) and a Doctorate from the Royal College of Music (2018). He was awarded the Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano Performance in 2021 from The Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University.