Kurt Hugo Schneider (born September 7, 1988), sometimes referred to by his initials KHS, is an American video editor, producer, musician, singer and songwriter, whose primary medium is

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

music videos A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

. He has produced music videos for various YouTube musicians, such as

Sam Tsui Samuel Tsui (born May 2, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter and video producer. He rose to fame as an internet celebrity known for doing covers and musical medleys of songs by pop artists. He has since released original songs and expanded t ...

Early life

Kurt Hugo Schneider was born in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

to Laurie S. Auth, a

visual artist The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...

, and Michael Schneider, a

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

. He grew up in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, a suburb of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

, where he lived just a street away from

, whom he met while attending middle school. They both later attended Wissahickon High School. He graduated class

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA) ...

. Schneider attended

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

, where he got his start producing videos when he worked at Yale's Digital Media Center for the Arts. He graduated

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

in 2010 with a degree in

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

and was inducted into

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

Career

Collaboration with Sam Tsui

Schneider began collaborating with

while they were both students at Wissahickon High School. Schneider and Jake Bruene created the musical

web series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single in ...

''College Musical'' fall semester 2008 at Yale. Schneider composed the songs and cast the project from Yale's music community, which included Sam Tsui and Allison Williams. The first episode aired on YouTube in January 2009. They shot an independent film based upon their online musical series, '' College Musical: The Movie,'' summer of 2010 and released online it on September 3, 2014. A series of behind-the-scenes videos for the movie, filmed and narrated by Nick Uhas, has been released on YouTube. He produced videos of Tsui singing covers and medleys. They garnered wide media attention with a video of a

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the " King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over ...

medley. This video remains the 9th most viewed (more than 34 million) on Schneider's

channel ''KurtHugoSchneider''. This medley is one of several in which Schneider, using

video editing Video editing is the manipulation and arrangement of video shots. Video editing is used to structure and present all video information, including films and television shows, video advertisements and video essays. Video editing has been dramatical ...

, creates the illusion of a one-man a cappella choir, with Tsui covering

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cut, ...

and

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

, playing multiple versions of himself. Their medley videos have been described by ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'' as a combination of '' Glee'' and ''

Attack of the Clones Attack may refer to: Warfare and combat * Offensive (military) * Charge (warfare) * Attack (fencing) * Strike (attack) * Attack (computing) * Attack aircraft Books and publishing * ''The Attack'' (novel), a book * ''Attack No. 1'', comic an ...

''. The viral videos led to a few appearances on national television, including ''

The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicago, Illinois. Produced ...

'' and ''

The Ellen DeGeneres Show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' (often shortened to ''Ellen'' or ''The Ellen Show'') is an American daytime television variety comedy talk show that was created and hosted by its namesake Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it was pro ...

''. On February 3, 2011, Schneider's video of Tsui covering '' Hold It Against Me'', in which Tsui sang and played the piano with Schneider on percussion, was featured on

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage producti ...

' official website. The popularity of their videos has encouraged the duo to branch out to other projects. Since September 2010, Schneider and Tsui have also begun to release videos of original songs and in May 2013,

's debut original album, ''Make It Up'', was released.

Other works

Schneider has also made music videos in collaboration with other artists. Popular videos include a

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip hop ...

medley sung by

Christina Grimmie Christina Victoria Grimmie (March 12, 1994 – June 10, 2016) was an American singer and YouTuber. In 2009, she began posting covers of popular songs onto YouTube. After releasing her debut EP, '' Find Me'' (2011), her YouTube channel reached ...

, a

duet A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a sol ...

between Tsui and Grimmie singing '' Just a Dream'' (the most viewed video on 'KurtHugoSchneider', with over two hundred million views), and a ''

Starcraft ''StarCraft'' is a military science fiction media franchise created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney and owned by Blizzard Entertainment. The series, set in the beginning of the 26th century, centers on a galactic struggle for dominance a ...

''-themed parody video, with

Husky Husky is a general term for a dog used in the polar regions, primarily and specifically for work as sled dogs. It refers to a traditional northern type, notable for its cold-weather tolerance and overall hardiness. Modern racing huskies that mai ...

, of " Baby". He has also parodied the infamous "Friday" by Rebecca Black with his variation being known as "Void Rays". He has collaborated with

Tiffany Alvord Tiffany Lynn Alvord (born December 11, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She has been cited as one of YouTube's first "home-grown celebrities". She has a large social presence on YouTube with over 705 million video views and ...

on a

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bo ...

medley and

Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primar ...

on a medley of

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to th ...

songs. Some of his earlier videos include collaborations with now-actress Allison Williams. He has also collaborated with

Max Schneider Maxwell George Schneider (born June 21, 1992), also known by his mononym MAX, is an American singer-songwriter, actor and model, signed to Arista and Sony RED. In 2018, MAX's single " Lights Down Low" went double platinum in the US, Platinum ...

(no relation) on a number of occasions: for example he directed a

Bruno Mars Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is known for his stage performances, retro showmanship, and for performing in a wide range of musical ...

medley for Schneider and

Victoria Justice Victoria Dawn Justice (born February 19, 1993) is an American actress and singer. She has received several accolades, including two Young Artist Awards and nominations for three Imagen Awards, an NAACP Image Award, and three Kids' Choice Award ...

, a Maroon 5 medley and a Christmas medley. Schneider also co-wrote 'Standing In China' with Schneider for Cody Simpson's album ''

Paradise In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in para ...

''. Schneider was also an associate producer for a musical admissions video for Yale, which features a cast consisting of Tsui and fellow Yale students. He has also performed a cover of "Beauty and the Beat" by Justin Bieber with

Alex Goot Alexander George Goot (born March 15, 1988) is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from New York City. , his YouTube channel GootMusic has 3.75 million subscribers and more than 800 million total views. He plays acoustic guitar, bass ...

and Chrissy Costanza from Against the Current as well as a cover of "Counting Stars" by OneRepublic, a cover of " Can't Hold Us" by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, and a cover of "Heart Attack" by Demi Lovato with Halocene.

Collaboration with Coca-Cola

In 2013, Schneider and

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance bar, temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pembe ...

created music videos featuring creative covers of two 2011 singles:

Calvin Harris Adam Richard Wiles (born 17 January 1984), known professionally as Calvin Harris, is a Scottish DJ, record producer, singer, and songwriter who has released six studio albums. His debut studio album, ''I Created Disco'', was released in June ...

' "

Feel So Close "Feel So Close" is a song by Scottish DJ Calvin Harris, released as the second single from his third studio album, ''18 Months'' (2012). In order to have lyrics and be standalone, Harris had to return to singing on this song, after previously s ...

" and

Of Monsters and Men Of Monsters and Men is an Icelandic indie folk/rock band formed in Reykjavík in 2010. The members are lead singer and guitarist Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, singer and guitarist Ragnar "Raggi" Þórhallsson, lead guitarist Brynjar Leifsson, ...

's "

Little Talks "Little Talks" is the debut single by Icelandic indie folk/indie pop rock band Of Monsters and Men. The song was released as the lead single from their debut studio album, '' My Head Is an Animal'' (2011). It was also released on the band's EP ' ...

" for a campaign called "The Sounds of AHH". Commercial edits of the singles premiered on the inaugural episode of season 13 of ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to ...

'' on January 14, 2014, on FOX. In the two new versions, recreated by Schneider, he is shown making the track playing only Coca-Cola bottles, glasses and cans. In addition, "Feels So Close" features the vocals of

whereas on the track "Little Talks", he is accompanied musically by beatboxing cellist Kevin Olusola.

Chess and puzzles

Schneider played for Yale's chess team. He currently holds a USCF Elo rating of 2235, holding the title of

master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

, and has held a blindfolded simultaneous exhibition for the comedy series The Try Guys. He has also featured at the

CES 2014 CES (; formerly an initialism for Consumer Electronics Show) is an annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). Held in January at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Winchester, Nevada, United States, the event typ ...

in the HRM Chess Tournament, hosted by Nordic Semiconductor in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...

, while playing against

Magnus Carlsen Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster who is the reigning five-time World Chess Champion. He is also a three-time World Rapid Chess Champion and five-time World Blitz Chess Champion. Carlsen has h ...

. In February 2020, Schneider created a sudoku-based puzzle for Cracking the Cryptic.

Personal life

He is of German and Austrian descent on his father's side. Schneider has an older sister who is a classical pianist. In August 2019 Schneider got engaged to his girlfriend of 5 years, Patty Ho. They were married in September 2021.

Discography

The following is a list of singles released digitally to

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

and recorded with artists other than

. ;Covers

Filmography

Film

Music videos

This list covers only music videos made for solo works, Sam Tsui originals and collaborations with other artists not listed in the discography for Sam Tsui.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schneider, Kurt Hugo 1988 births American chess players American people of Austrian descent American people of German descent Record producers from Pennsylvania Living people Musicians from Baltimore Musicians from Pennsylvania People from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Yale University alumni American YouTubers American male YouTubers American male pianists 21st-century American pianists 21st-century American male musicians Music YouTubers Shorty Award winners