Christoph Schneider

A “velvety soft tone and sensitive interpretation” is how the Press has described the playing of clarinetist Christoph Schneider, born in Frankfurt am Main in 1989. After an early study program with Johannes Gmeinder in Mainz, his training brought him to Martin Spangenberg in Weimar and later to Ralph Manno in Cologne. He was supported by scholarships from both the German National Academic Foundation and Villa Musica Foundation. He has also drawn inspiration from his musical collaboration with such personalities as Kirill Petrenko, Klaus Thunemann, Sebastian Weigle, and Ingo Goritzki.

Christoph Schneider has been committed to chamber music since his student years, joining with former colleagues from the National Youth Orchestra of Germany to found the canorusquintett, with whom he won several international prizes, including at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Conservatory Competition, ARD International Music Competition, and Concours International de Quintette à Vent “Henri Tomasi.”

He has also earned acclaim as a soloist at numerous competitions, and was not only honored as the best clarinetist at the 2017 Aeolus International Competition for Wind Instruments, but also won the special award for best interpretation of a contemporary work for his composition Konstrukt I.