Ragna Schirmer (born 1972) is a German classical pianist and academic teacher.
on Bach Cantatas Website She is focused on the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, and won the

International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition The International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition () is a music competition in Leipzig, Germany, held by the Bach-Archiv Leipzig. It was founded in 1950 and was held every four years from 1964 to 1996 with five subjects and is now held every two ...

twice.

Life

Born in

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; or ; ) is a city in Lower Saxony, in north-central Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim (district), Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of t ...

, Schirmer studied with Karl-Heinz Kämmerling at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover from 1991. In 1993, she continued her studies in Paris with Bernard Ringeissen. She earned her diploma with top marks in 1995 and completed her soloist training with a concert exam in 1999. Since then, she has taken part in several master classes. From 2001 to 2011 Schirmer was professor of piano at the

Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Mannheim The Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Mannheim is a Hochschule, a university for music and performing arts in Mannheim, Germany, of the state Baden-Württemberg History The Hochschule dates back to the 1762 ''Academie d ...

, and today promotes young talents in Halle. Schirmer received a scholarship from both Deutscher Musikrat and the

Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes The German Academic Scholarship Foundation (German: , or ''Studienstiftung'' for short) is Germany's largest and most prestigious scholarship foundation. According to its statutes, it supports "the university education of young people who, on ac ...

. She is the only pianist to have won the

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

twice, in 1992 and 1998. As her first CD, she released a recording of Bach's

Goldberg Variations The ''Goldberg Variations'' (), BWV 988, is a musical composition for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach, consisting of an aria and a set of thirty variations. First published in 1741, it is named after Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, who may ...

in 2000. This and other CDs have received awards in professional music journals. She was named

artist in residence Artist-in-residence (also Writer-in-residence), or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs that involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs that pr ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

in 2010. In 2012, she was honoured with the

Handel Prize The Handel Prize () is an annual award, instituted in 1956, which is presented by the city of Halle, in Germany, in honour of the celebrated Baroque composer George Frideric Handel. It is awarded, "for exceptional artistic, academic or politico- ...

of Halle, and in 2019, she was co-recipient of the Robert Schumann Prize of the City of Zwickau, alongside musicologist Janina Klassen.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schirmer, Ragna 1972 births Living people People from Hildesheim German women classical pianists 21st-century German classical pianists Handel Prize winners 21st-century German women pianists