Heather Schmidt – Pianist & Composer
www.heatherschmidt.com
Heather Schmidt, composer and pianist, is recognized as one of the most talented, exciting and versatile musicians of her generation, bringing a contemporary freshness to the illustrious composer-performer tradition of the past. She has received international acclaim through performances, broadcasts, commissions and awards in Canada, the United States, France, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, the Czech Republic, England, Finland, Iceland, Russia, Cyprus, Mexico, Brazil, and the British West Indies. As a pianist, she has performed extensively in solo and chamber recitals and as soloist with numerous orchestras. As a composer, Dr. Schmidt has composed over forty commissions in the past decade, eight of these premiered in one season alone. There have been hundreds of performances of her works by renowned soloists and ensembles around the world.
Originally from Calgary, Alberta, Dr. Schmidt is currently based in Toronto. She began piano lessons at age four and composing at the age of five. Following her formative studies at the Academy of Music at Mount Royal in Calgary, she received her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from Indiana University with double majors in composition and piano performance. At the age of 21, she became the youngest student to ever receive a Doctor of Music degree in both piano performance and composition from this institution. She also completed two years of professional studies in piano and composition at Juilliard in New York City, studying with Yoheved Kaplinsky and Milton Babbitt.
An active composer, Ms. Schmidt won her first award at the age of six, and she has since won many prestigious national and international prizes in composition. These include a Juno nomination in the category of “Best Classical Composition” (2003) for her Cello Concerto, three consecutive BMI Awards (1993, 1994, 1995), prizewinner of the Polytech Choir’s 100th Anniversary Composition Competition (Finland, 2003), SOCAN Composer Awards (1994, 1997), a Fleck Fellow from the Banff Centre (2001), the Zwilich Prize in the International League of Women Composers Competition (1994, 1996), prizewinner in the Juilliard Composers Competition (1997), the Dean’s Composition Prize at Indiana University (1993, 1994) and the 1994 Robert Fleming Prize from Canada Council. She has received commissions from sources such as the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), Canada Council, the Alberta Foundation, WDR (Westdeutsches Rundfunk in Germany), the Elaine Kaufman Cultural Center, the New York State Council for the Arts, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and the Harvard Musical Association. At age 19, Ms. Schmidt was asked to write the imposed work for the 1995 Banff International String Quartet Competition. Phantoms was performed on tour by the Amernet Quartet from USA, and later recorded on CD. Over the past ten years, it has been performed across Europe by the Henschel Quartet from Germany and by several other quartets. Ms. Schmidt has also composed the imposed test pieces for other major competitions, including the CBC Young Performer’s Competition (Chaconne, 1999), the Ester Honens International Piano Competition (Nebula, 2006), and the Eckhardt-Gramatté National Piano Competition (Night Rainbows, 2007). She has been commissioned to write chamber music for many ensembles including the Clarion Trio, Calgary New Works, the Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra of Boston, Music Umbrella of Toronto, and the Cygnus Ensemble of New York, and she has written many works for soloists, such as cellist Shauna Rolston, violinist Scott St. John, clarinetist James Campbell, and violist Rivka Golani. From 2003-2005, Ms. Schmidt was composer-in-residence for the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, and during that time she composed nine new orchestral works, including her Symphony No. 1 “Manufactured Landscapes” inspired by the photography of Edward Burtynsky. She has also composed new works for the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the CBC Vancouver Orchestra, the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, the Metamorphosen Orchestra and many other orchestras. In 2004, she composed the orchestral ballet music for the production of Petra: The Awakening of Myth, which was performed by the Cyprus National State Orchestra for New York-based Dance Anonymous at the International Festival Kypria in Cyprus. Her orchestral works, including four piano concertos have been performed across Canada, the USA, and in Mexico. Piano Concerto No. 5 will be premiered with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra in 2009. In January 2008, her Flute Concerto (2003) was premiered in Russia by the St. Petersburg Chamber Symphony.
In addition to her three year tenure as composer-in-residence for the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra (2003 – 2005), Ms. Schmidt has completed many short-term composer residencies for orchestras and festivals in North America and abroad, including the Vancouver Chamber Music Festival, the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, Festival of Sound, the Banff Centre for the Arts, and the Schloss Elmau Festival in Germany. Her music has been performed at the Winnipeg New Music Festival, the Vancouver International New Music Festival, the Canadian Music Festival in Windsor, Scotiafest in Halifax, Sound Symposium in St. John’s, Newfoundland, the Open Ears Festival in Kitchener-Waterloo, Soundstreams Canada in Toronto, the Acorn Festival in Hudson, Début Atlantic, the Music Now Series in Chicago, Illinois, the Canadian Festival of Music in Kraków, Poland, and many more.
Works by Dr. Schmidt have been recorded on several CDs including a recent recording by the Polytech Choir of Finland (Mies: Polytehnikkojen Kuoro, Juha Kuivanen). In 2003, Dr. Schmidt recorded several of her piano solos, along with works by other Canadian composers on her CD, Solus (Centrediscs Label), and the CD received an Opus Magazine Award for Best Canadian Music Recording for 2003. Other CDs which include works by Ms. Schmidt include Cello Concerto on This is the Color off My Dreams (CBC Recording), Shimmer on Nordic Passion (Urgence Musique), Chiaroscuro for flute and piano on Rain Dances (Canadian Chamber Music; CLEF Records), Solus for piano solo on Northern Sirens (York fine Arts Recording), Phantoms for string quartet on Music from Banff – Live from Carnegie Hall (Marquis label, EMI Canada), and a soon-to-be-released recording by Aiyun Huang of Dr. Schmidt’s Aubade for solo marimba.
Ms. Schmidt also has a growing presence in the film and TV industry. In addition to her concert music, she is in growing demand as a composer of scores for film, television, and documentaries. Her live performances and performances of her compositions have also been featured on television. She first performed on television at the age of 8. More recently, she appeared on BRAVO Classical Now Series. She was also selected to be the subject of a one hour documentary by Red Star Films, called “Synchronicity”, which first aired in January 2008.
Dr. Schmidt has performed extensively since her first public appearance as a pianist at age six. Throughout her education and musical career, she has received numerous awards and scholarships for her performances of both standard and contemporary repertoire. Awards include First Prize in the 2001 Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition, and First Place, the Audience Choice Award, and the Maestro’s Choice Millenniium Foundation Award at the 2000 Canadian Concerto Competition. Earlier awards include first prize in the 1992 Austrian-Canadian Mozart Competition, and the Rose Bowl and 1992 Gold Meal for “most outstanding performer” at the Calgary Kiwanis Music Festival. She received a Fleck Fellow Award from the Banff Centre in 2000, and a Distinguished Alumna Award from Mount Royal College, Calgary in 2000.
Critics have described Dr. Schmidt as “poised and utterly musical”, “a musical talent without match”, “a great artist”, and “as much a pianist in the professional sense as she is a composer.” She has performed at such venues as Merkin Concert Hall and Weill Recital Hall in New York City, the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in Chicago, the Glenn Gould Studio and the Music Gallery in Toronto, and many more. Although primarily active as a soloist, she frequently performs as a chamber musician, and has established an exciting duo partnership with the renowned Canadian cellist, Shauna Rolston. They have performed together regularly since 2002. In 2003 they were invited to join Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson’s State Delegation, and performed in Finland (Sibelius Academy Concert Hall, Helsinki) and Iceland (Salurinn Concert Hall, Reykjavik) and in 2006 they were invited to join the roster of Canada’s prestigious touring ensemble, “Piano Six/Piano Plus”. Dr. Schmidt has also performed with the Henschel Quartet from Germany, the Atlantic String Quartet, the Borealis Quartet, the Claudel Quartet, the Leopold Trio, the Jacques Thibaud Trio from Berlin and many other ensembles and soloists. She was one of two pianists in the New Music Ensemble at Indiana University from 1993-1995, and prior to university she performed in a wide arrange of chamber music ensembles through the academy program at Mount Royal College.
Performances by Dr. Schmidt have frequently been broadcast over CBC, as well as radio stations in the USA, Mexico, and abroad. She is also active as a recording artist. Her solo piano CD “Solus” received a 2003 Opus Magazine Award for “best classical recording.” Upcoming recordings include a CD on the Naxos label of rarely heard music by Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel, and a duo CD with cellist Shauna Rolston that will include works by Dr. Schmidt.
In addition to performance and composition, Ms. Schmidt is also committed to teaching and education. As a visiting guest artist, she has given many lectures, master classes and private lessons at conservatories and universities throughout North America and abroad. In addition to North American universities and conservatories, she has also been a guest teacher at the University of Mexico, the Sibelius Academy in Finland, the Iceland Academy of Music, and the Schloss Elmau Festival in Germany. She regularly presents at music teachers associations meetings and at conferences such as MTNA. From 1999 – 2001, she was on the faculty at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. She currently teaches composition and piano at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. She also commutes to Dallas, Texas where she is Adjunct Assistant Professor at Southern Methodist University, and is Founder and Director of the nonprofit Music Performance Institute.
For more information and updates please visit: www.heatherschmidt.com. [Heather Schmidt is managed by Michael Dufresne –President, Michael Gerard Management Group www.mgmg.ca.]
Sergei Prokofiev: Sonata No.7, B flat major, Op.83, 3rd mvt
Heather Schmidt: Piano Concerto No.3, 2nd mvt., 'Shimmering'
