Artistic Director

Oliver Schnyder

Oliver Schnyder (*1973) studied piano in Switzerland with Emmy Henz-Diémand and Homero Francesch and in the USA with Ruth Laredo (New York) and Leon Fleisher (Baltimore).

As a pianist, he is one of the most renowned Swiss classical musicians internationally. Schnyder performs in the major concert halls of Europe, North America and Asia (Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw, Vienna Musikverein, Kennedy Center Washington D.C., Moscow Great Hall, Tchaikovsky Hall, Cologne Philharmonie, Philharmonie and Herkulessaal Munich, KKL, Copenhagen Koncerthuset, Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall, Seoul Arts Centre, Taipei National Concert Hall, Wigmore Hall and many more) as well as at the festivals in Lucerne, Gstaad, Frankfurt, Heidelberg, Schwarzenberg and Hohenems (Schubertiade), Schwetzingen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Montreux-Vevey (Septembre Musical), Klosters, Ruhr (Piano), Linz (Brucknerfest) and Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

Schnyder performs with orchestras such as the Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, the Dortmund Philharmonic, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, the Korean Symphony Orchestra, the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra (London), Tonhalle Orchestra, Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, WDR Symphony Orchestra as well as with all the major Swiss symphony and chamber orchestras under conductors such as Ivor Bolton, Semyon Bychkov, Vladimir Fedoseyev, James Gaffigan, Howard Griffiths, Philippe Jordan, Sir Roger Norrington, Michail Jurowski, Muhai Tang, Mario Venzago and David Zinman. He is equally successful with his ensemble, the Oliver Schnyder Trio (Andreas Janke, violin, and Benjamin Nyffenegger, cello) and as a chamber music and lied partner to many international musicians.

For labels such as Sony Classical, RCA Red Seal, Prospero, Telos, Berlin Classics, Capriccio etc. Schnyder has recorded solo works by Bach (“Goldberg Variations”), Mozart, Schubert, Chopin, Brahms, Fauré, Grieg, Debussy, Schumann and Liszt, works for piano and orchestra by Haydn (Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields), Mozart (Camerata Bern), Fauré (Sinfonieorchester Basel, Ivor Bolton), Bruch (RSO Vienna, Howard Griffiths), all of Mendelssohn’s piano concertos (Musikkollegium Winterthur, Douglas Boyd) and Beethoven (Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, James Gaffigan) as well as all of the piano trios by Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Smetana, Shostakovich and Dvořák’s “Dumky” Trio with his trio. Many of Schnyder’s recordings have been honoured with awards, including the German Record Critics’ Award.

In addition to his work on stage, Oliver Schnyder was the artistic director of the Ittinger Pfingstkonzerte and the Davos Festival. He is the artistic director of the Orpheum Foundation Zurich, founding member and co-director of the piano series Piano District, co-director of the Lenzburgiade Festival and artistic director of the Kulturzentrum La Prairie Bellmund.