Oliver Schnyder
Oliver Schnyder | |
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Background information | |
Born | Brugg, Switzerland | October 3, 1973
Genres | Classical music |
Instrument | Piano |
Years active | 1998–present |
Labels | Sony Classical RCA Red Seal (Sony Music/Sony Masterworks) Avie |
Website | www |
Oliver Schnyder (born October 3, 1973 in Brugg, Switzerland) is a Swiss classical pianist.
Education
Oliver Schnyder studied with Emmy Henz-Diémand (taking his teaching and concert diploma of the Swiss Music Pedagogic Association SMPA in 1994), then studied in the master class of Homero Francesch at the Zurich University of the Arts, taking his solo diploma in 1998. He thereafter studied briefly with Ruth Laredo at the Manhattan School of Music in New York (1998) and from 1998 to 2001 in the class of Leon Fleisher in Baltimore (taking his Graduate Performance Diploma in 2001).
Career
Since his debut recital in the year 2000 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. and his solo debut in 2002 with Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra conducted by David Zinman on the occasion of the Orpheum Music Festival for the Orpheum Festival Days for the Advancement of Young Soloists in Zurich (today: Orpheum – Young Soloists on Stage), Oliver Schnyder has embarked on a global concert career. As a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician he has performed across all of Europe, in North and South America and the Far East, playing in Munich (in the Philharmonie in 2001 and 2003, the Herkulessaal in 2009 and the Prinzregententheater in 2011 and 2013), Osaka (Izumi Hall, 2003), Tokyo (Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall, 2003), Hong Kong (Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall, 2004), London (Wigmore Hall, 2004, 2010, 2014, 2015), New York (Carnegie Hall,[1][2] 2005, 2009), Frankfurt am Main (Alte Oper, 2005), Milan (Sala Verdi, 2005), Lucerne (Lucerne Culture and Congress Centre, 2005–2014), Moscow (Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, 2005, Tchaikovsky Hall, 2011), Beijing (Forbidden City Concert Hall, 2006), Hamburg (Laeiszhalle, 2007), Brussels (Palais des Beaux-Arts, 2008), Manchester (Bridgewater Hall, 2009), St. Petersburg (Philharmonia, 2009), Dortmund (Konzerthaus, 2010, 2011), Geneva (Victoria Hall, 2010, 2012, 2015), Taipei (National Concert Hall, 2011, 2015), Cologne (Philharmonie, 2012, 2014), Seoul (Seoul Arts Center, 2014), Rockville, Maryland (Music Center at Strathmore, 2015), Copenhagen (DR Koncerthuset, 2015), London (Cadogan Hall, 2015) and Baltimore (Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 2015).
Schnyder has also performed at numerous international festivals, such as at the Ruhr Piano Festival (2000), the Schwetzingen Festival (2007, 2013), the Menuhin Festival Gstaad (2008, 2010), the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival (2008), the Boswil Music Summer (Festival Artist 2008), the Ernen Music Village (2009, 2014), the Lugano Festival (2010, 2015), the Lucerne Festival (2010, 2011, 2014) and the Richard Strauss Festival Garmisch-Partenkirchen (2013).
Oliver Schnyder has performed as a soloist with many renowned orchestras, such as the Philharmonia Orchestra (on a tour conducted by Philippe Jordan, 2012), the Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields (a tour with Julia Fischer in 2015), the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (2015 under the baton of Mario Venzago), the Danish National Symphony Orchestra (2015 with Mario Venzago), the Zurich Chamber Orchestra and the Bern Symphony Orchestra (in the 2014/15 season, Schnyder was the orchestra's first-ever "Artiste étoile", and in this capacity joined them on a tour to England in May 2015).
Further renowned conductors with whom Schnyder has performed include Semyon Bychkov (WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, on tour in 2010), Howard Griffiths and Muhai Tang.
Oliver Schnyder is the pianist of the Schnyder Trio, which he founded in 2012 (as the Oliver Schnyder Trio) together with violinist Andreas Janke and the cellist Benjamin Nyffenegger. The Trio gave its debut in the Zurich Tonhalle on 4 February 2012 with Schubert's Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat major.
Cultural involvement
Oliver Schnyder is the founder and artistic director of Piano District,[3] whose aim is to bring top-class concerts into the spaces of selected industrial monuments of the canton of Aargau, and of Piano Legends,[4] which organises concerts with legendary pianists. He is also the Intendant of the Ittingen Whitsun Concerts 2016 (founded by Andras Schiff and Heinz Holliger).
Scholarships, prizes and awards
- "Supersonic Award" of the Luxembourgish Magazine Pizzicato, 2015, 2011[5] and 2010
- "M&T Meilenstein" of the Swiss Magazine Musik & Theater, 2014
- Career grant of the Aargau Kuratorium for artistic achievements, 2012, 2007
- Nomination for ICMA, 2012 (International Classical Music Awards)
- "Choc de Classica" of the French Magazine Classica, 2012
- "Rose of the Week" of the Munich newspaper tz for an outstanding artistic performance, 2009
- Orpheum Foundation for the Advancement of Young Soloists,[6] Zurich, 2002
- Milholland Award for Piano of the Peabody Conservatory, Baltimore, 2001
- Finalist International Robert Schumann Competition for Piano and Singing, Zwickau, 2000
- First Prize at the Pembaur Competition, Berne, 1999
- Rahn Music Award, Zurich, 1998
- Second Prize Lions International Piano Competition, as the official representative of Switzerland at the European Finals in Budapest, 1998
- Scholarship of the Swiss-American Cultural Exchange Council, Washington, D.C., 1998
- Duttweiler Hug Prize, Zurich, 1996
- Landolt Prize, Zurich, 1996
- Soloist Prize of the Jmanuel & Evamaria Schenk Foundation, Zofingen, 1996
- Studies Prize of the Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund and the Ernst Göhner Foundation, 1995
- Soloist Prize of the Swiss Council for Music, Boswil, 1991
Recordings of Oliver Schnyder have been awarded in numerous cases i.e. by the Opernwelt (Winterreisen, 2015), by the Rondo Magazine (Recommendation of the week for the Brahms Piano Trios, 2014), by the Aargauer Zeitung (Best Swiss Classical Album of the year 2014 for the Brahms Trios and Best Swiss Classical Album of the year 2013 for the Schubert Trios), by NDR Kultur (CD of the week for the Mendelssohn Piano Concertos, 2013, and CD of the day for Schumann Piano Works, 2010), by the Kulturspiegel (supplement of Der Spiegel, classification of the Haydn Piano Concertos as part of the series "The best good Classical CD", 2013), of the Fono Forum (for Liszt Années de pèlerinage, 2012), of ClassicFM (CD of the week for the Haydn Piano Concertos, 2012) and of rbb Kulturradio (CD of the week for the Haydn Piano Concertos, 2012).
Discography
- Brahms: Piano Trios No. 1, B major, op. 8 (First and Revised Version), No. 2, C major, op. 87, No. 3, C minor, op. 101. Oliver Schnyder Trio. RCA Red Seal (Sony), 2014
- Schubert: Winterreise(n), D. 911 (Original Version and Version with Piano Trio). Oliver Schnyder Trio. With Daniel Behle (tenor). Sony Classical, 2014 (2 CD)
- Haydn: Piano Concertos F major, Hob. XVIII:3, G major, Hob. XVIII:4 and D major, Hob. XVIII:11. With Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields conducted by Andrew Watkinson. RCA Red Seal (Sony), 2012, and in the series "The best good classical CD" in Kulturspiegel (supplement of Der Spiegel), 2013
- Schubert: Piano Trios No. 2, E-flat major, D. 929, op. 100 and No. 1, B major, D. 898, op. 99; Der Hirt auf dem Felsen, D. 965, op. 129; Ständchen (from Schwanengesang, D. 957). Oliver Schnyder Trio. RCA Red Seal (Sony), 2013 (2 CD)
- Mendelssohn: Piano Concertos No. 1, G minor, op. 25 and No. 2, D minor, op. 40; Concerto for Piano and Strings, A minor, MWV O 2. With Orchestra Musikkollegium Winterthur conducted by Douglas Boyd. RCA Red Seal (Sony), 2013
- Richard Strauss: Lieder. With Daniel Behle (tenor). Capriccio, 2012
- Generation. Songs of Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms. With Renate (mezzo-soprano) and Daniel Behle (tenor). Capriccio, 2012
- Liszt: Années de pèlerinage. Première année: Suisse. Werke, Malédiction, for Piano and Strings, S. 121. With Andreas Janke, Yi-Chen Lin, Cosemin Banica, Cathrin Kudelka (violin), Michel Rouilly, Katja Fuchs (viola), Benjamin Nyffenegger, Christian Proske (violoncello), Kamil Losiewicz (double bass). RCA Red Seal (Sony), 2011 (2 CD)
- Schubert: Piano Trio No. 2, E-flat major, D. 929, op. 100; Piano Sonata, A major, D. 664, op. 120. Trio Opus 100. Solo Musica, 2010
- Mendelssohn: Sonata for Violin and Piano, F major; Concerto for Violin, Piano and String Orchestra, D minor. With Rudens Turku (violin) and Cappella Istropolitana conducted by Ariel Zuckermann. Avie Records, 2010
- Schweizer Lieder. Leo Nadelmann: Mein blaues Klavier; Songs of Bloch, Hegar, Rolf Urs Ringger, Burkhard. With Noëmi Nadelmann (soprano). Musiques Suisses (Migros), 2010
- Piano Works. Schumann: Abegg Variations, op. 1; Davidsbündlertänze, op. 6; Aarabesque, op. 18; Ghost Variations, WoO 24; Gesänge der Frühe, op. 133. RCA Red Seal (Sony), 2010
- Homelands. Music for Violin and Piano. Grieg: Sonata No. 3 for Violin and Piano, C minor, op. 45; Rachmaninov: Vocalise, op. 34, No. 14; Dvořák: Sonatina for Violin and Piano, G major, op. 100; Piazzolla: Milonga en Re (tango); Sarasate: Romanza Andaluza, op. 22, No. 1. With Rudens Turku (violin). Avie Records, 2009
- Hefti: Schattenspie(ge)l, Trio for Violin, Violoncello and Piano; Ritus, four Dance Collages for Violoncello solo; Rosenblätter, Song Cycle for medium voice and Piano. Telos, 2008
- Lieder. Songs of Schubert, Beethoven, Grieg, Britten, Manfred Trojahn. With Daniel Behle (tenor). Phoenix Edition, 2008
- Contrasts. Mozart: Piano Concertos No. 12, A major, K. 414; No. 13, C major, K. 415 and No. 26, D major, K. 537; the complete Piano works in minor: Fantasias No. 3, D minor, K. 397 and No. 4, C minor, K. 475, Piano Sonatas No. 9, A minor, K. 310 and No. 14, C minor, K. 457; Rondo for Piano No. 3, A minor, K. 511; Adagio, B minor, K. 540. With Camerata Bern conducted by Erich Höbarth. RCA Red Seal (Sony), 2008 (2 CD)
- Hefti: Tenet, four Songs for Sopran and Ensemble; Schattenklang, Adagio for Piano; Mondschatten, for Violin and Marimba; O, star! II, Mosaic for Saxophone solo; Miroirs, for Violin and Piano. With Zürcher Kammerensemble conducted by David Philip Hefti. Telos, 2007
- Recital. Chopin. Telos, 2007
- Grieg: Lieder, op. 48; Hefti: Rosenblätter; Ravel: Histoires Naturelles. With Judith Schmid (mezzo-soprano). SwissPan, 2007
- Hefti: Diarium for Violin solo; O, star! Mosaic for Clarinet solo; Melencolia I for Flute, Drums and Piano; Sator, Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra. With Stefan Tönz (violin), Valentin Wandeler (clarinet), Zürcher Kammerensemble and members of Collegium Novum Zürich conducted by David Philip Hefti. Telos, 2006
- Saint-Saëns: Piano Concertos No. 2, G minor, op. 22, and No. 5, F major, op. 103; Wedding Cake, op. 76. With Aargau Symphony Orchestra conducted by Douglas Bostock. ClassicO, 2004
- Piano works. Fauré: Nocturne No. 1, E-flat minor, op. 33, No. 1, Impromptus No. 2, F minor, op. 31 and No. 3, A-flat, op. 34; Debussy: Estampes; Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition. Art Unity, 2002
- Rolf Urs Ringger: Aria amarosa (with Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Okko Kamu), The Golden Heat of Midday (with Orchestra Musikkollegium Winterthur conducted by Heinrich Schiff), "Feuillages" for String Quartet (with Carmina Quartet), Klavierstücke. Musiques Suisses (Migros), 2001
- Piano works. Brahms: Sonata No. 3, F minor, op. 5; Mendelssohn: Variations sérieuses, op. 54; Schubert: Sonata, A major, D. 664, op. 120. Art Unity, 2001
References
- ^ Recital with violinist Julia Fischer at Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, January 14, 2005, New York Times, January 15, 2005
- ^ Recital with Veronika Eberle at Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, February 13, 2009, New York Times, February 16, 2009
- ^ Website of Piano District
- ^ Website of Piano Legends
- ^ "Supersonic Award März 2011" (PDF). Pizzicato (in German). Retrieved 15 May 2011.
- ^ "Musicians of the Orpheum Advancement Programme". Orpheum Foundation for the Advancement of Young Soloists. Retrieved May 15, 2011.