Violinist Giora Schmidt is quickly establishing himself as a virtuoso of the grand tradition with a distinctive voice. His performances are illuminated by a richness of color and effortless technique making Giora one of the most commanding young artists on the stage today.
He has appeared with numerous symphony orchestras around the globe including, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, New Jersey, Fort Worth, Honolulu, San Diego, Vancouver, Toronto, National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba, Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM (Mexico City), Orquesta Sinfonica de Chile, Sendai Philharmonic and the Israel Philharmonic. In 2003, he made his Carnegie Hall debut performing the Barber Violin Concerto with the New York Youth Symphony.
In recital and chamber music, Giora has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and made important debuts at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Ravinia Rising Stars series in Chicago, San Francisco Performances, the Louvre Museum in Paris, and Tokyo's Musashino Cultural Hall. He is a regular guest at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and has collaborated with eminent musicians including Yefim Bronfman, Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Lynn Harrell, Ralph Kirshbaum and Michael Tree.
Born in Philadelphia in 1983 to professional musicians from Israel, Giora began playing the violin at the age of four. He has studied under Patinka Kopec and Pinchas Zukerman at the Manhattan School of Music, and Dorothy DeLay and Itzhak Perlman at The Juilliard School. Committed to sharing his passion for music, Giora regularly seeks out new ways of reaching young violinists through technology and social media.
Giora was the First Prize winner of the Philadelphia Orchestra's Greenfield Competition in 2000, the recipient of a 2003 Avery Fisher Career Grant, and in 2005 won the Classical Recording Foundation's Samuel Sanders Award.
Connect with Giora @www.facebook.com/gioraschmidt and www.gioraschmidt.com
(2011-12)
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
"High on individuality, Schmidt's rendition of the great violin showpiece was impossible to resist, captivating with lyricism, tonal warmth, and boundless enthusiasm. Where so many performances are carbon copies, this one was his alone."
Cleveland Plain Dealer
"...with a dark-roasted tone that easily filled Orchestra Hall... He caressed the Andante with a full-bodied passion, confidence and slides that winked, perhaps, at [Perlman's] style. The Moto Perpetuo finale went out in a blaze of glory leaving no doubt that Schmidt's got major-league chops."
Detroit Free Press
"...The virtuoso Brahms Sonata was a thrill in all respects: stylish, passionate, technically on the mark and utterly convincing. The same came along with the two Sarasate pieces ... sauced with a pinch of Spanish spice that was perfect. These were confirmation of Schmidt's musicianship and prospects at full sail, music making in the grand tradition. This could be a major career, and deserves careful nurturing."
San Francisco Classical Voice
"...an acutely focused, gleaming sound that recalls Perlman in his prime. Schmidt also possesses a daunting technical arsenal and sailed through the bravura passages of the outer movements with remarkably even articulation at a rapid tempo, without breaking a sweat."
The Miami Herald
"%u2026there was nothing conventional about Giora Schmidt's playing of [Dvorak's Violin Concerto]%u2026He soared, he dazzled, he ripped the double-stops from the strings in handfuls, and rippled through the scale passages with a tone of silvered lightning%u2026 This kind of thing electrifies audiences, especially when it is combined as it was with Schmidt's intensely introspective, richly coloured interpretation of the Adagio. Schmidt capped his standing ovation with a bravura execution of Fritz Kreisler's Recitative and Scherzo-Caprice for Solo Violin." The Chronicle Herald
SOLO REPERTOIRE WITH ORCHESTRA
BACH
Concerto in A minor, BWV 1041
Concerto in E Major, BWV 1042
Concerto in D minor for Two Violins, BWV 1043
BARBER
Concerto, Op. 14
BARTOK
Concerto No. 1, Op. Posth.
Concerto No. 2
BEETHOVEN
Concerto in D Major, Op. 61
Romances No. 1 in G Major; No. 2 in F Major
"Triple" Concerto for Violin, Piano & Cello in C Major, Op. 56
BRAHMS
Concerto in D Major, Op. 77
"Double" Concerto in A minor for Violin & Cello, Op. 102
BRUCH
Concerto in G minor, Op. 26
Scottish Fantasy
DVORAK
Concerto in A minor, Op. 53
Romance in F minor
LALO
Symphonie Espagnole
MENDELSSOHN
Concerto in E minor, Op. 64
MOZART
Concerto No. 3 in G Major, K. 216
Concerto No. 4 in D Major, K. 218
Concerto No. 5 in A Major, K. 219
Sinfonia Concertante for Violin & Viola
Adagio in E Major, & Rondo in C Major
PAGANINI
Concerto No. 1
PROKOFIEV
Concerto No. 2 in G minor
RAVEL
Tzigane
SAINT-SAENS
Concerto No. 3 in B minor, Op. 61
Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso
SIBELIUS
Concerto in D minor, Op. 47
TCHAIKOVSKY
Concerto in D Major, Op. 35
VIEUXTEMPS
Concerto No. 5 in A minor, Op. 37
VIVALDI
The Four Seasons
WIENIAWSKI
Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 22
Polonaise No. 1 in D Major
RECITAL REPERTOIRE
BACH
Sonatas & Partitas
BEETHOVEN
Sonata No.1
Sonata No. 4
Sonata No. 5 "Spring"
Sonata No. 7
Sonata No. 8
Sonata No. 9 "Kreutzer"
Sonata No. 10
BRAHMS
Sonatensatz
Sonata No. 1
Sonata No. 2
Sonata No. 3
DEBUSSY
Sonata
Various short pieces (Clair de lune, Girl with Flaxen Hair, etc.)
DVORAK
Sonatina
4 Romantic Pieces
FAURE
Sonata
FRANCK
Sonata
HANDEL
Sonata No. 4 in D Major
Sonata No. 6 in E Major
HEIFETZ
Various encores/transcriptions
JANACEK
Sonata
KREISLER
Various encores/transcriptions
LISZT (transcribed by Noam Sivan)
Piano Sonata in B minor transcribed for Solo Violin
PHILIP LASSER
Vocalise
MASSENET
Meditation from Thais
MOZART
Sonata K. 301
Sonata K. 304
Sonata K. 377
Sonata K. 378
Sonata K. 454
Sonata K. 526
SARASATE
Habanera
Romanza Andaluza
SCHUBERT
Sonatina in D Major
SCHUMANN
Sonata No. 1 in A minor
Intermezzo from F.A.E. Sonata
SMETANA
Aus der Heimat
YSAYE
Sonata No. 3
ELLEN TAAFFE ZWILICH
Episodes for Violin and Piano
