Giora Schmidt (pronounced ghee-OH-rah) is an American/Israeli violinist.

Biography

Giora Schmidt was born into a family of musicians in

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. Sinc ...

, 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 ( he, פנחס צוקרמן, 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 Zuk ...

at the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory in New York City. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition, as well as a bachelor's in mu ...

. 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 Shelter Island is an island ...

in Shelter Island, NY. There he met Itzhak Perlman who invited Schmidt to study with him and the late violin pedagogue Dorothy DeLay at the Juilliard Pre-College. In between his lessons in New York, Schmidt worked intensely with violinist Geoffrey Michaels on scales, etudes and the Sonatas and Partitas of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

– in the tradition of

Efrem Zimbalist Efrem Zimbalist Sr. ( – February 22, 1985) was a concert violinist, composer, conductor and director of the Curtis Institute of Music. Early life Efrem Zimbalist Sr. was born on April 9, 1888, O. S., equivalent to April 21, 1889, in the Greg ...

and Oscar Shumsky. At 18, Schmidt entered the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

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 tuition-free 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, Cha ...

In recital and chamber music, Schmidt has performed at

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

The Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

The Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

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 an outdoor music venue in Highland Park, Illinois. It hosts a series of outdoor concerts and performances every summer from June to September. The first orchestra to perform at Ravinia Festival was the New York Philharmonic unde ...

, 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 is a classical music training program in Montecito in Santa Barbara County, California. Overview The academy hosts an annual eight-week summer music festival, highlighted by concerts and workshops directed by famous composer ...

. He has collaborated with such acclaimed musicians as Itzhak Perlman,

Yefim Bronfman Yefim "Fima" Naumovich Bronfman (russian: Ефим Наумович Бронфман; 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. H ...

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 Swedis ...

, 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 research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

(

NYU Steinhardt The New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development (commonly referred to as Steinhardt) is the secondary liberal arts and education school of New York University. It is one of the only schools in the world of i ...

), 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 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 the Republic of Venice. Tartini was a prolific composer, composing over a hundred of pieces for the violin with the majority of ...

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...

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

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

, 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 closely with violin ...

''(piano)''
''Schubert & Shostakovich Piano Trios''
(October 2008) *: Navah Perlman ''(piano)'' *:Giora Schmidt ''(violin)'' *:

Zuill Bailey James Zuill Bailey, better known as Zuill Bailey (born 1972) is a Grammy Award-winning American cellist, chamber musician, and artistic director. A graduate of the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University and the Juilliard School, he has ...

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

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

, de Falla, Philip Lasser, Franck & Wieniawski *:Giora Schmidt '' (violin) '' *:

''(piano) ''
''Live From El Paso Pro-Musica''
(February 2007) *:Works by Arensky & 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 classical violinists American male violinists Israeli classical violinists Jewish classical musicians American people of Israeli descent Israeli Jews 1983 births Juilliard School alumni Juilliard School faculty People from New York (state) Musicians from Philadelphia Living people Educators from Pennsylvania Classical musicians from Pennsylvania 21st-century classical violinists 21st-century American male musicians Male classical violinists 21st-century American violinists