Lorenz Schmidt was born in Schweinfurt in 1958. In 1971 he started taking guitar lessons with Gerhard Vogt in his hometown. From 1978 to 1984, Schmidt studied guitar (Prof. Kreidler) and composition (Prof. Weiand) at the Wuppertal Department of Musikhochschule Köln.
Since 1983 he has taught at the Schweinfurt music school. In addition to his teaching job and his compositional work, he has played numerous concerts with the groups Duo Stringendo, Prisma Ensemble, Duo Grazioso and as a soloist, starting from 1990.
His work focuses on chamber music for guitar(s) in various ensemble combinations (voice, flute, accordion, strings, piano). In recent years, he’s also written an increasing number of pieces for other instruments and ensembles (piano, choir, organ, clarinet, string quartet, accordion, chamber orchestra, percussion).
His works have been published by Vogt & Fritz, Schweinfurt; Schott, Mainz; Edition Margaux, Berlin; Verlag Neue Musik, Berlin; and Edition Wunn, Werneck.
In 1988, the city of Schweinfurt commissioned Schmidt to compose a piece on the occasion of Friedrich Rückert’s bicentenary.
In 1991, he was awarded a prize for his accordion piece “Die Vertreibung der Stille” (Silence Expelled) at the Vienna Summer Seminar for New Music.
Schmidt’s works have frequently been broadcast in the “Concerto bavarese” program of the Bayerischer Rundfunk.
In 2007, one of Schmidt’s compositions was included in the “Münchner Klavierbuch”; in 2012, one of this pieces was chosen for the “Aachener Mandolinenbuch”.
Lorenz Schmidt lives in his native city of Schweinfurt and works as a music teacher, guitarist and composer.
