Austrian cellist and conductor Heinrich Schiff died last night at a hospital in Vienna. He was 65. He had given up performing in 2012 due to health reasons.
Born in 1951 in Gmunden, Austria, he studied cello with Tobias Kühne and André Navarra and made his solo debut in Vienna and London in 1971. He studied conducting with Hans Swarovsky, and made his conducting debut in 1986.
Schiff was Artistic Director of the Northern Sinfonia from 1990 to 1996. He also held chief conductorships with the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra in Copenhagen (1996–2000), and the Orchester Musikkollegium Winterthur.
In 2004, he was appointed Chief Conductor of the Vienna Chamber Orchestra where he served from 2005 to 2008. He taught at Universities in Cologne, Basel, Saklzburg and Vienna. Among his students are Christian Poltéra, Gautier Capuçon, Richard Harwood and Natalie Clein.
