Sir András Schiff

Born in Budapest in 1953, Sir András Schiff received his first piano lessons at the age of five from Elisabeth Vadász. He later continued his studies with Pál Kadosa, György Kurtág, and Ferenc Rados in his hometown, as well as with George Malcolm in London. His artistic focus centers on the piano works of Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms, and Bartók. Sir András performs regularly with major orchestras and conductors, but he places special emphasis on interpreting the piano concertos of Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart while conducting from the keyboard. For this purpose, he founded the Cappella Andrea Barca in 1999. He also works closely with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and is an Associate Artist of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Schiff has been a passionate chamber musician since an early age. He directed the Musiktage Mondsee from 1989 to 1998 and, from 1995 to 2013, the Ittinger Whitsun Concerts (together with Heinz Holliger); since 1998 he has led the “Omaggio a Palladio” concert series in Vicenza. He is particularly committed to ­supporting young musicians: he teaches at the Kronberg Academy and at the Baren­boim-Said Acade­my and mentors young pianists through his “Building Bridges” program. In his book Music Comes out of Silence: A Memoir, which originally appeared in German in 2017, he reflects on his fundamental artistic beliefs and experiences. Sir András Schiff holds multiple honorary doctorates and has received such distinctions as the Robert Schumann Prize (2011), the Golden Mozart Medal (2012), the Antonín Dvořák Prize (2021), the Bach Medal of the City of Leipzig (2022), the Festival Pin with Rubies from the Salzburg Festival (2023), the Bösendorfer Ring (2024), and the Praemium Imperiale (2025). He has also spoken out against the alarming ­political developments in Hungary. After being the target of defamatory attacks by Hungarian nationalists, Sir András Schiff no longer performs concerts in his native country. In March 2025, he also canceled all future appearances in the US in protest against the policies of Donald Trump and his supporters.

Lucerne Festival (IMF) debut on 21 August 1990 in a solo recital of works by Janáček, Bartók, Schubert, and Haydn.

August 2025