– Biography –
His name is Schnyder (...) A magical evening.
(Berlingske, Copenhagen)
«Swiss Brand quality» (Pizzicato), «Intelligence and aristocratic musicianship» (Washington Post) «Added to all that technical fluency was abundant expressive character» (Baltimore Sun). Read more about the exceptional Swiss pianist…
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Oliver Schnyder (born October 3rd, 1973 in Brugg) studied in Switzerland with Emmy Henz-Diémand and Homero Francesch, as well as in the United States with Ruth Laredo (New York) and Leon Fleisher (Baltimore).
Since winning the Grand Prize at the Pembaur Competition in Berne (1999) and making his debuts at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. (2000) and with the Tonhalle Orchestra under David Zinman (2002, Orpheum Young Soloists on Stage), he has performed in many of the most renowned concert halls across Europe, North America, and Asia. These include Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw, Vienna Musikverein, Kennedy Center, Moscow Great Hall, Tchaikovsky Hall, Cologne Philharmonie, Bozar Brussels, Konzerthaus Dortmund, Munich Philharmonie and Herkulessaal, KKL Luzern, Copenhagen Koncerthuset, Strathmore Music Center, Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall, Tokyo Toppan Hall, Seoul Arts Center, Hong Kong City Hall, Taipei National Concert Hall, Victoria Hall, LAC Lugano, Wigmore Hall, and many more. He has also appeared at prestigious festivals such as the Lucerne Festival (including Le Piano Symphonique), Gstaad (Menuhin Festival and Sommets Musicaux), Verbier, Frankfurt, Heidelberg, Schwarzenberg and Hohenems (Schubertiade), Schwetzingen, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Montreux-Vevey (Septembre Musical), LiedBasel, Klosters Music Festival, Ruhr Piano Festival, Linz (Brucknerfest), and Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
Schnyder has performed with orchestras such as the Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Belgrade Philharmonic, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Dortmund Philharmonic, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Israel Sinfonietta, Korean Symphony Orchestra, National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra (London), Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Moscow Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, Cologne Chamber Orchestra, the South West German and Württemberg Chamber Orchestras, the Württemberg Philharmonic, as well as with all the leading Swiss symphony and chamber orchestras. He has collaborated with conductors including Francesco Angelico, Howard Arman, John Axelrod, Alexandre Bloch, Ivor Bolton, Douglas Bostock, Douglas Boyd, Semyon Bychkov, Josep Caballé Domenech, Charles Dutoit, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Fabien Gabel, James Gaffigan, Howard Griffiths, Philippe Jordan, Sir Roger Norrington, Helmut Müller-Brühl, Michail Jurowski, Gintaras Rinkevičius, Jac van Steen, David Stern, Muhai Tang, Emmanuel Tjeknavorian, Mario Venzago, and David Zinman.
With the Oliver Schnyder Trio (Andreas Janke, violin, and Benjamin Nyffenegger, cello), he maintains an international presence. As a chamber musician and song accompanist, he has worked with artists such as Benjamin Appl, Yulianna Avdeeva, Daniel Behle, Guy Braunstein, Marc Bouchkov, Carmina Quartet, Wolfram Christ, Veronika Eberle, Endellion Quartet, Julia Fischer, Homero Francesch, Vilde Frang, Sol Gabetta, Gringolts Quartet, Martin Grubinger, Barbara Hannigan, Rachel Harnisch, Heinz Holliger, Daniel Hope, Maximilian Hornung, Henning Kraggerud, Roby Lakatos, Jens Peter Maintz, Nils Mönkemeyer, Regula Mühlemann, Lena Neudauer, Burhan Öcal, Andreas Ottensamer, Alina Pogostkina, Christian Poltéra, Julian Rachlin, Lars Anders Tomter, Rudens Turku, Lise de la Salle, Antje Weithaas, Jörg Widmann, Jacques Zoon, among others.
Schnyder has recorded solo works by Bach (“Goldberg Variations”), Mozart, Schubert, Chopin, Brahms, Fauré, Grieg, Schumann, and Liszt for Sony Classical, RCA Red Seal, Prospero, Telos, Berlin Classics, and Capriccio. He has also recorded piano concertos by Haydn (Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields), Mozart (Camerata Bern), Fauré (Basel Symphony Orchestra, Ivor Bolton), Saint-Saëns (argovia philharmonic, Douglas Bostock), Bruch (Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Howard Griffiths), the complete piano concertos of Mendelssohn (Musikkollegium Winterthur, Douglas Boyd), the complete piano concertos of Beethoven (Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, James Gaffigan), as well as the complete piano trios of Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Smetana, Shostakovich, and Dvořák’s “Dumky Trio” with the OST. Many of his recordings have received awards, including the German Record Critics’ Award, KulturSPIEGEL’s Annual Best List, Diapason, Choc, Fono Forum’s Star of the Month, Pizzicato Supersonic Award, and CH Media’s Best Swiss Classical Album of the Year.
Schnyder also appears as a pianist and actor in Heinz Bütler’s essay films Brennender Sommer (with Daniel Behle, Sibylle Lewitscharoff, Alain Claude Sulzer, and Peter Simonischek) and Malstunden bei Raffael (with Endo Anaconda), both of which premiered at the Zurich Film Festival and were successfully screened in Swiss cinemas.
Oliver Schnyder was the artistic director of the Davos Festival and is currently the artistic director of the Orpheum Foundation Zurich, co-founder and artistic co-director of the Piano District recital series (together with music manager Thomas Pfiffner), as well as co-artistic director of the Lenzburgiade Festival alongside his partner Fränzi Frick. He gives masterclasses across Europe and overseas.
January 2025