Heinrich Schiff is an Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

n cellist

Cello

The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...

 and conductor

Conducting

Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...

. He studied cello with Tobias Kühne and André Navarra

André Navarra

André-Nicolas Navarra was a French cellist and cello teacher.-Early life:...

 and made his solo debut in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 and London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 in 1971. He studied conducting with Hans Swarovsky, and made his conducting debut in 1986.

Schiff was Artistic Director of the Northern Sinfonia

Northern Sinfonia

The Northern Sinfonia is a British chamber orchestra, based initially in Newcastle upon Tyne, and currently in Gateshead. For the first 46 years of its history, the orchestra gave the bulk of its concerts at the City Hall, Newcastle upon Tyne. Since 2004, the orchestra has been resident at The...

 from 1990 to 1996, and recorded with them for the NMC label. He also held chief conductorships with the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra

Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra

The Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra , also known as the Tivoli Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra which both serves as Danish Regional Orchestra for the island of Zealand and, for the summer season while the Tivoli Gardens are open, as resident orchestra in the Tivoli Concert...

 in Copenhagen

Copenhagen

Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...

, Denmark(1996–2000), and the Orchester Musikkollegium Winterthur

Orchester Musikkollegium Winterthur

The Orchester Musikkollegium Winterthur is a symphony orchestra based in Winterthur, Switzerland. The oldest orchestra in Switzerland, it was founded in 1875 as the Stadtorchester Winterthur. The Musikkollegium itself as an organisation out of religious roots to that time was founded in 1629...

.

In 2004, he was appointed Chief Conductor of the Vienna Chamber Orchestra

Vienna Chamber Orchestra

The Vienna Chamber Orchestra is an Austrian chamber orchestra based at the Vienna Konzerthaus....

 and served in the post from 2005 to 2008. He stood down from the post in 2008 for health reasons.

Schiff plays the "Mara" Stradivarius

Stradivarius

The name Stradivarius is associated with violins built by members of the Stradivari family, particularly Antonio Stradivari. According to their reputation, the quality of their sound has defied attempts to explain or reproduce, though this belief is controversial...

 (1711) and "Sleeping Beauty" made by Montagnana

Domenico Montagnana

Domenico Montagnana was an Italian master luthier based in Venice, Italy. He is regarded as one of the world's finest violin and cello makers of his time....

 in Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

 in 1739. His recording of the Bach

Bạch

Bạch is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Bai in Chinese and Baek, in Korean.Bach is the anglicized variation of the surname Bạch.-Notable people with the surname Bạch:* Bạch Liêu...

 Cello Suites

Cello Suites (Bach)

The Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello by Johann Sebastian Bach are some of the most performed and recognizable solo compositions ever written for cello...

 won prizes, and his recording of the Shostakovich

Dmitri Shostakovich

Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....

 concertos won the Grand Prix du Disque

Grand Prix du Disque

The Grand Prix du Disque is the premier French award for musical recordings. The award was inaugurated by l'Académie Charles Cros in 1948 and offers prizes in various categories. The categories vary from year to year, and multiple awards are often made in any one category in the same year...

. His recording of the Brahms

Johannes Brahms

Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...

 Double Concerto

Double Concerto (Brahms)

The Double Concerto in A minor, Op. 102, by Johannes Brahms is a concerto for violin, cello and orchestra.- Origin of the work :The Double Concerto was Brahms' final work for orchestra. It was composed in the summer of 1887, and first performed on 18 October of that year in the Gürzenich in Köln,...

 with Frank Peter Zimmermann

Frank Peter Zimmermann

Frank Peter Zimmermann is a German violinist.He was born in Duisburg, Germany, and started playing the violin when he was five years old, giving his first concert with orchestra at the age of 10....

 and Wolfgang Sawallisch

Wolfgang Sawallisch

Wolfgang Sawallisch is a retired German conductor and pianist.-Biography:Sawallisch was born in Munich, and studied composition and pianoforte there privately: at the conclusion of the war, in 1946 he continued his studies at the Munich High School for Music and passed his final examination for...

 won the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis

Deutscher Schallplattenpreis

The Deutscher Schallplattenpreis was a prize that the Deutsche Phono-Akademie awarded from 1963 through 1992. Its successor is the ECHO prize....

. Composers who have written cello concertos for Schiff include John Casken

John Casken

John Casken is an English composer, born in Barnsley, Yorkshire, England.Casken read music at the University of Birmingham, studying composition and contemporary music with John Joubert and Peter Dickinson. He then went on to study in Poland with Andrzej Dobrowolski on a Polish government...

 and Friedrich Cerha

Friedrich Cerha

Friedrich Cerha is an Austrian composer and conductor.-Biography:Cerha was born in Vienna.He received his education at the Viennese Music Academy and at the University of Vienna...

. Among his students is Rudi Spring

Rudi Spring

Rudi Spring is a German composer of classical music, pianist and academic. He is known for vocal compositions on texts by poets and his own, and for chamber music such as his three Chamber Symphonies.- Professional career :...

.

External links

• Intermusica agency biography of Heinrich Schiff