Markus Schirmer - Biography

Biography

Born in Graz, Markus Schirmer studied with Rudolf Kehrer, Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, Paul Badura-Skoda and Doris Wolf, among others. He performed on a number of major concert halls and festivals such as Wiener Musikverein & Konzerthaus, Herkulessaal & Philharmonic (Munich), Suntory Hall (Tokyo), Wigmore Hall (London), Gewandhaus (Leipzig), Rudolfinum (Prague), Konzerthaus Berlin, Megaron (Athens), Finlandia Hall (Helsinki), Teatro Teresa Carreño (Caracas), Victoria Hall (Geneva), Teatro Olimpico (Vicenza), Festival international de piano “La roque d´Antheron“, Rheingau Musik Festival, Bregenz Festival, Ruhr Piano Festival, styriarte, Lucerne Festival, Mondseetage, ISCM-World Music Festival etc.

He has worked with orchestras and conductors such as the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Symphony, Mariinsky Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Radio-Symphony Orchestras of Vienna, Munich and Leipzig, Czech Philharmonic, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Valery Gergiev, Sir Neville Marriner, Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Michael Gielen, Philippe Entremont, Sir Charles Mackerras, Pinchas Steinberg, John Axelrod, Fabio Luisi, Roy Goodman oder Philippe Jordan.

He adores Schubert above all but is also enthusiastic about more obscure works such as Britten's ironic piano concerto, the transcendental oeuvres of Szymanowski or Apostel's „Kubiniana“. Chamber music plays a very important role in his work and so he has performed with Julian Rachlin, Renaud Capuçon, Clemens Hagen, Christian Altenburger, Danjulo Ishizaka, Patrick Demenga, the Artis Quartet, the Auryn Quartet, the Chilingirian quartet, the Gaede Trio and many others.

Through the years Markus Schirmer has written many songs, e.g. for Sandra Pires (a Portuguese-Australian singer living in Vienna) and many other vocalists. Furthermore he has worked on a number of artistic projects, for example Scurdia, a crossover partnership with the Kurdish lutist Risgar Koshnaw and other exceptional artists from all over the world, which was initialized in 1988.

Schirmer is a professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz where he has been teaching concert piano students from Austria, Greece, Finland, Italy and Japan.

Markus Schirmer is often invited to adjudicate in many international piano competitions and to give master classes all over the world. He has become very committed to Live Music Now, a charitable scheme that was founded by Lord Yehudi Menuhin to support gifted musicians.

Schirmer was awarded the “Music Manual Award“ at the international Music Convention EUROMUSIC. In addition he was recently granted the Karl-Böhm-Interpretationspreis, an award for Austrian artists.