Giora Schmidt (pronounced ghee-OH-rah) is an American/Israeli violinist.
Biography
Giora Schmidt was born into a family of musicians in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His parents emigrated from Israel in 1978, and played with the Philadelphia Opera Company Orchestra. His mother, Michal Schmidt is a cellist and pianist and is on the faculty of Bryn Mawr and Haverford Colleges and the University of Pennsylvania.
His father, Dov Schmidt, is a violinist and businessman.
Schmidt began his violin studies at the age of four,[1] and by 12 was commuting between Philadelphia and New York to study with Patinka Kopec and Pinchas Zukerman at the Manhattan School of Music.
Schmidt did not truly become serious until the age of 14 when he began spending summers at the Perlman Music Program in Shelter Island, NY. There he met Itzhak Perlman who invited Schmidt to study with him and the late violin pedagogue Dorothy DeLay at the Juilliard Pre-College.
At 18, Schmidt entered the Juilliard School where he continued his studies with Perlman and DeLay, graduating in 2004. From 2004-2006 he was chosen to be a Starling Fellow where he taught as Itzhak Perlman's assistant at the Juilliard School.
He has appeared as soloist with numerous symphony orchestras around the globe including Cleveland, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Toronto, Vancouver, National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba, Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM (Mexico City), Orquesta Sinfonica de Chile, Sendai Philharmonic and the Israel Philharmonic. In February 2003, he made his Carnegie Hall debut performing the Barber Violin Concerto with the New York Youth Symphony
Committed to education and sharing his passion for music, Schmidt is currently on the Artist Faculty at New York University (NYU Steinhardt), and Orford Musique Academie (Quebec) in the summers.
Previously, he was on the faculty at the University of Cincinnati - College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), The Juilliard School and the Perlman Music Program. Through technology and social media he regularly seeks out new ways of reaching young violinists and music lovers around the world.
Schmidt plays a c.1830 violin by Giuseppe Rocca and bows by Sartory, Hill and contemporary makers Paolo Pamiro and David Samuels.
Honors
2005: Classical Recording Foundation's Samuel Sanders Award, presented to him by Itzhak Perlman at Carnegie Hall.
2004-2006: Starling Fellowship, The Juilliard School