The cellist Michael Schmitz belongs to a young generation of musicians who view classical music as a living art form. Straddling the world of chamber music tradition and innovative concert concepts, he seeks ways to make music an immediate and contemporary experience.

As a chamber musician, he regularly performs at leading festivals, including Beethovenfest, Mozartfest Würzburg, Rheingau Musik Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and PODIUM Festival Esslingen.

Michael Schmitz is the cellist of the Avin Trio, which was awarded a scholarship and the special prize from Von Zengen Kunstauktionen at the 2024 German Music Competition. In the 2025/26 season, the ensemble will be included in the concert funding programme of Deutscher Musikrat (German Music Council). He is also a prize-winner of the German Musical Instrument Fund of the Deutschen Stiftung Musikleben (German Music Life Foundation) and a scholarship holder of the Baden-Württemberg State Collection.

Michael Schmitz’s training took him to the conservatoires in Trossingen and Dresden, where his work with Prof. Francis Gouton had a particular influence on him. He gained further artistic inspiration in masterclasses with, among others, Peter Bruns, Roland Pidoux, Troels Svane, Claudio Bohórquez and Maria Kliegel. As a fellow of the Kurt Masur Academy of the Dresden Philharmonic, he also gained formative orchestral experience.

Michael Schmitz is a member of the treppenhausorchester, a multi-award-winning 20-piece ensemble that ranks among the leading representatives of the innovative classical music scene in Germany and Europe.