Giora Schmidt () is an American/Israeli violinist.

Biography

Giora Schmidt was born into a family of musicians in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Pennsylvania. His parents emigrated from Israel in 1978 and played with the Philadelphia Opera Company Orchestra. His mother, Michal Schmidt is a cellist and pianist and is on the faculty of Bryn Mawr and Haverford Colleges and the University of Pennsylvania. His father, Dov Schmidt, is a violinist and businessman. Schmidt began his violin studies at the age of four, and by 12 was commuting between Philadelphia and New York to study with Patinka Kopec and

Pinchas Zukerman Pinchas Zukerman (; born 16 July 1948) is an Israeli-American violinist, violist and conductor. Life and career Zukerman was born in Tel Aviv, to Jewish parents and Holocaust survivors Yehuda and Miriam Lieberman Zukerman. He began his musica ...

at the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music a ...

. Schmidt did not truly become serious until the age of 14 when he began spending summers at the

Perlman Music Program The Perlman Music Program is a summer program for gifted young musicians. Founded by Toby Perlman, wife of Israeli-American violinist Itzhak Perlman, in 1995, the program is headquartered in Shelter Island, New York. It offers exceptionally talente ...

in Shelter Island, NY. There he met

Itzhak Perlman Itzhak Perlman (; born August 31, 1945) is an Israeli-American violinist. He has performed worldwide and throughout the United States, in venues that have included a state dinner for Elizabeth II at the White House in 2007, and at the First ina ...

who invited Schmidt to study with him and the late violin pedagogue

Dorothy DeLay Dorothy DeLay (March 31, 1917 – March 24, 2002) was an American violin teacher, instructor, primarily at the Juilliard School, Sarah Lawrence College, and the University of Cincinnati. Life Dorothy DeLay was born on March 31, 1917, in Medic ...

at the Juilliard Pre-College. In between his lessons in New York, Schmidt worked intensely with violinist

Geoffrey Michaels Geoffrey Michaels (19 June 1944 – 17 February 2024) was an Australian violinist and violist. A child prodigy in Australia during the 1950s, he performed and taught primarily in the United States. Early life and education Born in 1944 in Weste ...

on scales, etudes and the Sonatas and Partitas of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

– in the tradition of

Efrem Zimbalist Efrem Zimbalist (April 21 .S. April 9 1889 – February 22, 1985) was a Russian and American concert violinist, composer, conducting, conductor and director of the Curtis Institute of Music. Early life Efrem Zimbalist was born on April 9, 1 ...

and

Oscar Shumsky Oscar Shumsky (March 23, 1917 in Philadelphia – July 24, 2000 in Rye, New York) was an American violinist and conductor. Biography Oscar Shumsky was born to Russian-Jewish parents. He started learning the violin at the age of three, and mad ...

. At 18, Schmidt entered the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

where he continued his studies with Perlman and DeLay, graduating in 2004. From 2004-2006 he was chosen to be a Starling Fellow where he taught as Itzhak Perlman's assistant at the Juilliard School. He has appeared as soloist with numerous symphony orchestras around the globe including Cleveland, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Toronto, Vancouver, National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba, Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM (Mexico City), Orquesta Sinfonica de Chile, Sendai Philharmonic and the Israel Philharmonic. In February 2003, he made his Carnegie Hall debut performing the Barber Violin Concerto with the

New York Youth Symphony The New York Youth Symphony (NYYS), founded in 1963, is a music organization for the youth in New York City, widely reputed to be one of the best of its kind in the nation and world. Its programs include its flagship Orchestra, Chamber Music, J ...

In recital and chamber music, Schmidt has performed at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

The Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

The Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the third-largest museum in the world and the largest art museum in the Americas. With 5.36 million v ...

in New York, San Francisco Performances, the Louvre Museum in Paris, and Tokyo's Musashino Cultural Hall. His festival appearances include the

Ravinia Festival Ravinia Festival is a primarily outdoor music venue in Highland Park, Illinois. It hosts a series of outdoor concerts and performances every summer from June to September in a wide variety of musical genres from classical to pop. The first orche ...

, the Santa Fe and Montreal Chamber Music Festivals,

Bard Music Festival The Bard Music Festival is an annual classical music festival held during the month of August on the campus of Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. Founded in 1990, the festival was created with the intention of finding ways to present th ...

, Scotia Festival of Music and

Music Academy of the West The Music Academy of the West is a summer classical music training program in Montecito, California, and festival with performances in the County of Santa Barbara. Overview The academy annually enrolls 136 pre-professional musicians in their ...

. He has collaborated with such acclaimed musicians as

Yefim Bronfman Yefim Naumovich Bronfman (; born April 10, 1958) is a Soviet-born Israeli-American pianist. Biography Bronfman was born in Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, and immigrated to Israel at the age of 15. He was born into a musical Jewish family. His father Naum ...

Lynn Harrell Lynn Harrell (January 30, 1944 – April 27, 2020) was an American classical cellist. Known for the "penetrating richness" of his sound, Harrell performed internationally as a recitalist, chamber musician, and soloist with major orchestras o ...

Anne Sofie von Otter Anne Sofie von Otter (born 9 May 1955) is a Swedish mezzo-soprano. Her repertoire encompasses lieder, operas, oratorios and also rock and pop songs. Early life Von Otter was born in Stockholm, Sweden. Her father was Göran von Otter, a Swedi ...

, Ralph Kirshbaum and

Michael Tree Michael Tree (February 19, 1934 – March 30, 2018), born Michael Applebaum, was an American violist. Biography Tree was born in Newark, New Jersey. His principal studies were with Efrem Zimbalist on violin and viola at the Curtis Institute o ...

. Committed to education and sharing his passion for music, Schmidt is currently on the Artist Faculty at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

( NYU Steinhardt), and Orford Musique Academie (Quebec) in the summers. Previously, he was on the faculty at the University of Cincinnati - College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), The Juilliard School and the Perlman Music Program. Through technology and social media he regularly seeks out new ways of reaching young violinists and music lovers around the world. Schmidt plays a c.1830 violin by Giuseppe Rocca and bows by Sartory, Hill and contemporary makers Paolo Pamiro and David Samuels.

Honors

*2005: Classical Recording Foundation's ''Samuel Sanders Award'', presented to him by Itzhak Perlman at Carnegie Hall. *2004-2006: Starling Fellowship, The Juilliard School *2003: Avery Fisher Career Grant *2001: First Prize, Concerto Competition at the

*2000: First Prize,

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription concerts, n ...

Greenfield Competition

Recordings

''Giora Schmidt Live from Miami''
(May 2010) *:Works by

Tartini Giuseppe Tartini (8 April 1692 – 26 February 1770) was an Italian composer and violinist of the Baroque era born in Pirano in the Republic of Venice (now Piran, Slovenia). Tartini was a prolific composer, composing over a hundred pieces for the ...

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, often set within studied ye ...

Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

, Kreisler, & de Falla *:Giora Schmidt ''(violin)'' *:

Rohan de Silva Rohan De Silva is a Sri Lankan pianist. De Silva initially studied at Isipathana College, Colombo and later he migrated abroad to study at the Royal Academy of Music, London and The Juilliard School, New York, while working with violinist Doroth ...

''(piano)''
''Schubert & Shostakovich Piano Trios''
(October 2008) *:

Navah Perlman Navah Miriam Perlman is a concert pianist and chamber musician. Her parents are violinists Toby and Itzhak Perlman. Education and career Perlman performed as a soloist with the Greater Miami Youth Symphony Orchestra in 1984, and the Los Angele ...

''(piano)'' *:Giora Schmidt ''(violin)'' *:

Zuill Bailey James Zuill Bailey, better known as Zuill Bailey (born April 24, 1972) is an American Grammy Award-winning cello soloist, chamber musician, and artistic director. A graduate of the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University and the Juillia ...

''(cello)''
''Vocalise''
(September 2007) *:Works by

Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist, impresario of Baroque music and Roman Catholic priest. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lif ...

, de Falla,

Philip Lasser Philip Lasser (born August 4, 1963) is an American composer, pianist, and music theorist. He is a member of the faculty at the Juilliard School in New York City. Career and contributions Lasser was born in New York City and began taking piano ...

Franck Franck can refer to: People * Franck (name) Other * Franck, Argentina, town in Santa Fe Province, Argentina * Franck (company), Croatian coffee and snacks company * Franck (crater), Lunar crater named after James Franck See also * Franc (di ...

& Wieniawski *:Giora Schmidt '' (violin) '' *:

''(piano) ''
''Live From El Paso Pro-Musica''
(February 2007) *:Works by

Arensky Anton Stepanovich Arensky (; – ) was a Russian composer of Romantic classical music, a pianist and a professor of music. Biography Arensky was born into an affluent, music-loving family in Novgorod, Russia. He was musically precocious and ha ...

& Dohnányi *:Giora Schmidt '' (violin) '' *:Soovin Kim '' (violin) '' *:Kirsten Johnson '' (viola) '' *:

'' (cello) '' *:

'' (cello) ''

Media

"It’s a digital life for a man with an analog soul"
''Lansing City Pulse''
Las Vegas Philharmonic Radio Preview
''88.9 KNPR''
"Young violinist strives to bring back the Golden Age"
''South Florida Classical Review''
"The student becomes the master"
''Sarasota Herald Tribune''
"Violinist Schmidt, called a prodigy, hits recital trail"
''San Francisco Chronicle''
"A conversation with Giora Schmidt"
''Roanoke Times''

References

External links

Instagram ProfileFacebook PageOfficial Website
* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmidt, Giora American male violinists Israeli classical violinists Jewish classical musicians American people of Israeli descent Jewish Israeli musicians 1983 births Juilliard School alumni Juilliard School faculty Musicians from New York (state) Musicians from Philadelphia Living people Educators from Pennsylvania Classical musicians from Pennsylvania 21st-century American male musicians Male classical violinists 21st-century American classical violinists