Markus Schirmer
Biography Markus Schirmer
Markus Schirmer
Energy, expression and emotion characterize Austrian top-pianist Markus Schirmer’s music making.
No matter where he tours he receives audience acclaim for his charismatic musicianship and his ability to tell vivid stories with the instrument. One of his reviews sums him up precisely: “A pied piper on the piano…music that comes straight from the heart, the brain and the fingertips.”
After intense studies with Rudolf Kehrer, Karl-Heinz Kämmerling or Paul Badura-Skoda the Graz born artist went on to win numerous prizes and honours and to take a number of major concert halls and festivals by storm: the Wiener Musikverein and Konzerthaus, Herkulessaal and Philharmonic (Munich), Suntory Hall (Tokyo), Wigmore Hall (London), Gewandhaus (Leipzig), Philharmonie and Konzerthaus (Berlin), Rudolfinum (Prague), Palais des Beaux Arts (Brussels), Finlandia Hall (Helsinki), Teatro Teresa Carreño Caracas), Palau de la Musica (Valencia), Victoria Hall (Geneva), Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Teatro Olimpico (Vicenza), Megaron (Athens), Lucerne Festival, Rheingau Musik Festival, Festival international de piano “La Roque d´Antheron“, Ruhr piano festival, “Stars of White Nights Festival” (St.Petersburg), Festival pianistico internazionale „Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli“ (Brescia), Vilnius Festival, Kissinger Sommer, styriarte, Bregenz Festival, Mondseetage, ISCM Music Festival and many more.
He has worked with renowned orchestras: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra London, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Mariinsky Orchestra St.Petersburg, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Sinfonia Varsovia, the Radio Symphony Orchestras of Vienna, Munich and Leipzig, Borusan Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Valery Gergiev, Sir Neville Marriner, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Jukka Pekka Saraste, Sir Charles Mackerras, Michael Gielen, John Axelrod, Fabio Luisi, Yan-Pascal Tortellier, Philippe Entremont, James Judd, Paul Goodwin and Philippe Jordan among others.
He adores Schubert above all but is also enthusiastic about more obscure works such as Britten’s ironic piano concerto, the transcendental solo piano oeuvre of Szymanowski or „Castelli Romani“, an epic piano concerto by Joseph Marx.
Chamber music plays an important role in his work and his partners have included Vadim Repin, Renaud Capuçon, Julian Rachlin, Benjamin Schmid, Veronika & Clemens Hagen, Isabelle van Keulen, Sharon Kam, Nils Mönkemeyer, Christian Poltéra, Linus Roth, Natalia Prishepenko, Danjulo Ishizaka, Boris Giltburg, Patrick Demenga, Christian Altenburger, the Ensemble Wien-Berlin, the Artis-, the Auryn-, the Carmina Quartet, the String Trio Berlin and many others.
