Biography

The Süddeutsche Zeitung calls him the "new idol of all piano enthusiasts", the Financial Times Deutschland describes his playing as an "experience" and the magazine Rondo states briefly and to the point: "Masterly. Gripping, indeed, poignant. Splendid." Born in Erlangen in 1982, the German pianist David Theodor Schmidt is one of the young generation of musicians who already enjoy great acclaim in the musical world.

Schmidt initially studied with Sontraud Speidel in Karlsruhe and later with Kevin Kenner at the Royal College of Music in London. He has won prizes and holds scholarships from prestigious organizations like the German Government's DAAD programme, the ZEIT Foundation (in the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben) and the Chopin Society in Hanover. In November 2009 he was additionally awarded the renowned Bavarian Arts Bursary of the State Ministry of Science, Research and Arts.

Schmidt's busy concert schedule includes recitals and concerts at prestigious venues in Germany and the rest of Europe, like the Berlin Konzerthaus, the Munich Gasteig, the Dortmund Konzerthaus, the Leipzig Gewandhaus and the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, as well as renowned music festivals like the Schubertiad at Schwarzenberg/Hohenems, the Ansbach Bach Festival, the Thüringer Bachwochen and the Piano aux Jacobins festival in Toulouse. His performances draw enthusiastic reviews from the press; the Molva newspaper in Russia, for example, has praised "his supreme skill as a pianist, his maturity, his brilliant technique and variety of pianistic expression".

Special attention has been given to the young pianist's radio and television recordings, as well as to his CDs, released on such labels as Sony Classical and Profil - Edition Günter Hänssler. In his recordings David Theodor Schmidt has tackled the works of Bach and the German-Austrian Romantic composers, which in addition to Viennese Classicism form the main focus of his repertoire. His recordings have been highly praised by press and radio at home and abroad; Fono Forum magazine awarded their Star of the Month to his CD of works by Mendelssohn, Schubert and Brahms, while the weekly DIE ZEIT wrote of his CD “Wohin” in 2011: "Of all the recordings that concentrated on Franz Liszt last year, this is one of the finest."