Award-Winning German Pianist to Perform at Ohio Wesleyan
Award-winning pianist Alexander Schimpf will perform a free concert at 8 p.m. Nov. 15 at Ohio Wesleyan University. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
DELAWARE, Ohio – The Ohio Wesleyan University Department of Music will present a free community concert by award-winning pianist Alexander Schimpf. He will perform at 8 p.m. Nov. 15.in Jemison Auditorium in Sanborn Hall, 23 Elizabeth St., Delaware.
Born in Göttingen, Germany, Schimpf has earned critical acclaim by winning a series of international competitions. In 2008, he won the German Music Competition, a distinction no pianist had achieved in 14 years. In 2009, he took first prize at the International Beethoven Competition in Vienna, and, in 2011, Schimpf became the first German pianist ever to win the 2011 Cleveland (Ohio) International Piano Competition.
His final round performance with the renowned Cleveland Orchestra earned Schimpf a standing ovation and the competition’s Audience Favorite Prize. Of his performance, Plain Dealer reporter Zachary Lewis wrote that Schimpf achieved “complete mastery of the score’s technical and emotional dimensions. By turns, the pianist whipped up storms, spun out golden filigree, and plumbed philosophical depths.”
Since winning these awards, Schimpf has seen his career gain momentum with regular appearances at music centers around the world. In 2011, he gave debut recitals at the Vienna Konzerthaus, Berlin’s Konzerthaus, and Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall in New York. In 2013, Schimpf was presented with the Bavarian State Award for the Advancement of the Arts.
He has released two CDs, with his latest, “Schimpf Plays Ravel, Scriabin & Schubert,” coming out in 2013. Learn more about Schimpf, and hear samples of his work, at www.alexander-schimpf.de. Learn more about Ohio Wesleyan’s Department of Music, including upcoming performances, at https://www.owu.edu/academics/departments-programs/department-of-music/.
Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier small, private universities. Ohio Wesleyan offers more than 90 undergraduate majors, sequences, and courses of study, and 23 NCAA Division III varsity sports. OWU combines an internationally focused curriculum with off-campus learning and leadership opportunities that connect classroom theory with real-world practice. Located in Delaware, Ohio, OWU’s 1,850 students represent 41 states and 45 countries. The university is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives,” listed on the 2013 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction, and included on the “best colleges” lists of U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review. Learn more at www.owu.edu.