William Schmidt has two Masters degrees in piano performance from the University of Melbourne and the Music and Arts University of Vienna, Austria. He has performed many solo piano recitals in Melbourne, regional Victoria, and interstate, including concert series performances for the Camberwell Music Society, the Albury Chamber Music Festival, the live-to-air 3MBS Kawai Live Sessions, the Bairnsdale Uniting Church Pipe Organ and Musical Events Group, and the Flinders Quartet‘s 2022 residency at Tempo Rubato in Brunswick.
William is the principal accompanist for Box Hill Chorale, Victoria Chorale and Star Chorale. He is a Teaching Associate accompanist at the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music at Monash University, and is annually employed as official string accompanist at the Monash Youth Music Festival, and an official accompanist at the Ringwood Eisteddfod. William is a sought-after accompanist for recitals, auditions, competitions, and AMEB and VCE music exams. He also performs as part of the Art of Sound Orchestra and tours as a collaborative pianist with Promac Productions with shows in theatres around the country.
As a composer and arranger, William has had his commissioned works performed by musicians and ensembles such as Elyane Laussade, Glenn Riddle, Marianne Rothschild, Collide Trio, and the Preston Symphony Orchestra. William has been a featured composer for the Camberwell Music Society, and has had his compositions aired on 3MBS radio and recorded on a Move Records CD, “The Sky is Melting”.
William has received the Australian Music Foundation’s Inaugural Guy Parsons Award, a Travelling Scholarship from the Australian National Piano Award, an Australian Postgraduate Award from the federal government, first prizes in the Australian Youth Piano Recital and the National Pharmacies Piano Concerto Competition, various University of Melbourne scholarships and many other awards.