András Schiff facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sir
András Schiff
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Schiff in Leipzig, 2016
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| Born | 21 December 1953 Budapest, Hungary
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| Education | Franz Liszt Academy of Music University of Music Franz Liszt Weimar |
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| Spouse(s) | Yūko Shiokawa |
Sir András Schiff, born on December 21, 1953, is a famous classical pianist and conductor. He was born in Hungary but is now a British citizen. He has won many important awards for his music, like the Grammy Award and the Mozart Medal. In 2014, he was made a Knight Bachelor by the Queen for his great contributions to music.
Schiff is also a special visiting piano professor at the Barenboim–Said Akademie in Berlin. He was the first ever artist-in-residence for the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.
Contents
Biography
András Schiff was born in Budapest, Hungary. He was an only child in a Jewish family. He started playing the piano when he was five years old. He studied at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. His teachers there included Elisabeth Vadász, Pál Kadosa, and Ferenc Rados.
Schiff learned a lot from Ferenc Rados. He said Rados taught him how to make good sounds on the piano. He also learned how to practice well without wasting time. Some of his classmates became famous pianists too, like Zoltán Kocsis and Dezső Ránki.
While studying in Budapest, Schiff also took summer classes. He learned from Tatiana Nikolayeva and Bella Davidovich in Weimar, Germany. Later, he studied in London with George Malcolm. Malcolm was known for using old musical instruments. Schiff even recorded music with Malcolm using a special piano called a fortepiano. This piano once belonged to the famous composer Mozart. Schiff also studied piano and chamber music with György Kurtág.
Early Career and Moving Abroad
In 1974, Schiff won fourth prize at the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition. The next year, he tied for third prize at the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition. He left Hungary in 1979. He later became an Austrian citizen in 1987. He then made homes in London and Salzburg.
Music Festivals and Orchestras
From 1989 to 1998, Schiff was the artistic director of a music festival. It was called "Musiktage Mondsee" and was held near Salzburg. In 1995, he helped start another festival in Switzerland. It was called "Ittinger Pfingstkonzerte."
From 2004 to 2007, he was an artist-in-residence at Kunstfest Weimar. This means he was a special guest artist there. In 2007–08, he was the pianist-in-residence for the Berlin Philharmonic. He was also a "Perspectives Artist" at Carnegie Hall in 2011–12.
In 1999, he created his own chamber orchestra. He named it the Cappella Andrea Barca. "Barca" means "boat" in Italian, just like "Schiff" means "boat" in German. He has also conducted many other famous orchestras. These include the Philharmonia Orchestra in London and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.
Recordings and Performances
Schiff is known for playing music by many great composers. These include Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and Schumann. He has made many recordings.
Some of his recordings include:
- Bach's keyboard music.
- Mozart's and Schubert's complete piano sonatas.
- Mendelssohn's complete piano concertos.
- Beethoven's complete piano concertos.
- Bartók's complete piano concertos.
He has also recorded works by Janáček and Sándor Veress. He even recorded Beethoven's piano sonatas live in Zurich. Between 2004 and 2006, he gave special lecture-recitals. In these, he talked about and played all of Beethoven's piano sonatas.
Schiff also gives lectures about how to play music. In 2024, he lectured about Bach's Art of Fugue. Then he performed the piece in the same concert. He also helped create new music books. For example, he added fingerings for new editions of Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier.
Personal Life
András Schiff is married to the violinist Yūko Shiokawa. They have homes in London, Florence (Italy), Kamakura (Japan), and Basel (Switzerland).
Schiff looks up to many other pianists. Some of them are Artur Schnabel, Glenn Gould, and Radu Lupu.
Teaching
Schiff is known for his online masterclasses, which are like advanced music lessons. He teaches piano at the Barenboim–Said Akademie in Berlin, Germany. He is a special visiting professor there. He has also given masterclasses at other famous schools. These include the Juilliard School and the Royal Academy of Music. In 2019, he taught a special series of masterclasses. Only seven selected students were able to attend.
Awards and Honours
András Schiff has won many important awards for his music. Here are some of them:
- 1990: Grammy Award for his performance of Bach's English Suites.
- 1990: Gramophone Award for a Schubert recital.
- 1991: Bartók Prize.
- 1994: Claudio Arrau Memorial Medal.
- 1996: Kossuth Prize.
- 1997: Léonie Sonning Music Prize.
- 2006: Honorary membership in the Beethoven House in Bonn. This was for his complete recordings of Beethoven's piano sonatas.
- 2007: Premio della critica musicale Franco Abbiati (an Italian prize) for his Beethoven sonata cycle.
- 2007: Royal Academy of Music Bach Prize. This award is for people who have made great contributions to playing or studying Bach's music.
- 2008: Wigmore Hall Medal.
- 2008: Klavier-Festival Ruhr Prize for his excellent piano playing.
- 2011: Robert Schumann Prize of the City of Zwickau.
- 2011: Germany's Orden Pour le mérite für Wissenschaften und Künste.
- 2012: Golden Mozart Medal from the International Mozarteum Foundation.
He has also been made an honorary professor at music academies in Budapest, Detmold, and Munich. He is a special Fellow at Balliol College, Oxford University. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Northern College of Music. In December 2013, the Royal Philharmonic Society gave him its gold medal.
In 2014, Queen Elizabeth II made him a Knight Bachelor. This honor was given for his important work in music. In 2018, he received an Honorary Doctorate from The Prince of Wales. In 2022, he was awarded the Bach Medal by the City of Leipzig.
Political Views
András Schiff has spoken publicly about his concerns regarding politics in Austria and Hungary. He believes that artists should speak up about important issues.
Austria
In 2000, he shared his worries about certain political groups in Austria. Because of these concerns, he later gave up his Austrian citizenship. He became a British citizen in 2001.
Hungary
In 2011, Schiff wrote a letter in The Washington Post. He questioned if Hungary was ready to lead the European Union at that time. He was concerned about new media laws and other issues in Hungary.
He later told a German newspaper that he might not perform or visit Hungary again. He felt he was no longer welcome there. He also joined other Hungarian artists in writing an open letter. This letter protested against certain trends in Hungary. It said that the freedom of media and artists was being limited.
Because of his statements, some people in Hungary criticized him. In 2012, he said he was worried about certain groups in Hungary. He also mentioned that he had received threats online. These threats made him decide not to return to Hungary for his safety. He believes that art and politics are connected. He feels it would be difficult to play in Hungary given the situation.
See also
In Spanish: András Schiff para niños
