“A sublime concert”
Terry Tazioli, The Seattle Times
“Hypnotic”
Scott Cantrell, The Dallas Morning News
“Prodigious musical gifts … he will be a force with which to be reckoned”
Gregory Isaacs, Theater Jones
Born in Milan in 1985, Italian-German pianist and composer Thomas Schwan performed extensively in major venues in Italy, the Netherlands, France, England, Russia, and the United States. He won substantial music awards such as the Honors Diploma and the Premio Monte dei Paschi di Siena from Accademia Chigiana, as well as several top prizes in international piano and composition competitions.
His music has been performed by members of the Asko|Schoenberg Ensemble Amsterdam, Voices of Change (USA), the Meadows Wind Ensemble (USA), Quartetto Mitja (Italy), Trio Chénier (Italy), and other renowned ensembles and soloists in Europe and in America. He received commissions from the Dallas Chamber Music Society and other prominent music organizations. In 2017 he was awarded the prestigious Odyssée artistic residency as a pianist and composer at Abbaye Royale de Saint-Riquier (France), where he was commissioned a new piano work to be premiered onsite.
He taught piano and composition masterclasses in Italy, the Netherlands, and Panama, and maintains an active performing and teaching schedule worldwide. He is specializing in the performance of the keyboard music of J.S. Bach and has recently given multiple performances of the first book of The Well-Tempered Clavier.
A graduate of the Conservatory of Vicenza, he pursued the Artist Certificate and two Master's degrees at Southern Methodist University in Dallas (USA), where he was a recipient of the Meadows Artistic Scholarship. His professors at SMU were Joaquín Achúcarro (piano) and Kevin Hanlon (composition); former piano and composition teachers include Grazia Galletta, Alessandro Fortuna, Gianni Possio, Elisabetta Brusa, and Simon Sargon. He attended masterclasses with Gary Graffman, Vladimir Krainev, Marios Papadopoulos, Boris Berman, Louis Lortie, Claude Baker, and Rodion Shchedrin. He is currently working on his doctoral degree in the studios of Pamela Mia Paul (piano) and Joseph Klein (composition) at the University of North Texas, where he is working as a Teaching Fellow. www.thomasschwan.com
