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Heinrich Schiff, conductor / cellist

Short Biography

Heinrich Schiff, born 1951, began playing the piano at the age of six and the violoncello at the age of ten. He studied with Tobias Kuhne in Vienna, and subsequently Andre Navarra, and made his debut as a cellist in Vienna and London in 1971. Meanwhile he attended conducting classes with Swarovsky. During the next 10 years spent establishing his career as a cellist, his interest in conducting grew through workshops and youth orchestra projects, and in 1986 he made his professional conducting debut.

Since then cello performances and conducting have come to play equal roles in his career. Artistic Director of the Northern Sinfonia 1990-1996, Principal Conductor of the Copenhagen Philharmonic 1996-1999, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie 1990-1992, he has also conducted orchestras such as: English Chamber, Philharmonia, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the radio orchestras in Hamburg, Baden-Baden, Cologne, Paris and Turin, the Munich Philharmonic, Dresden Staatskappelle, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Residentie Orkest Den Haag, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony, Houston Symphony, Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, and the Oslo Philharmonic.

Schiff has conducted productions of "The Magic Flute"(December 1992) and "Fidelio" (September 1993) at the Theatre de la Monnaie in Brussels, and "The Flying Dutchman" (1994) at the Stadttheater in Bern.

He has made a number of recordings conducting the Northern Sinfonia, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, and The Philharmonia. He has been Principal Conductor of the Musikkollegium Winterthur since 1996, and Principal Guest Conductor of the SDR Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart since 1998.

May 2000/250 Words

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