Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden was born in Karlsbad in 1937 and obtained his training as a conductor at the Musikhochschule in Munich with Kurt Eichhorn. He also worked with Kurt Thomas, the choir director of St. Thomas in Leipzig, for three years. His collaboration with Nikolaus Harnoncourt also played a decisive roll in his musical development. Together, they made many recordings and gave many opera performances.As an conductor, Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden has appeared amongst others at the Salzburg Festival, La Scala in Milan, and the Teatro La Fenice in Venice. As an internationally recognized vocal pedagogue and children’s vocal specialist, he held a choral conducting professorship at the Salzburg Mozarteum from 1980 to 1988. From 1984 to 1989 he was also the choral director at La Scala. He has given courses in vocal coaching for singers, choir directors and music teachers in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Austria, Italy, South Africa, and Japan. In 1983, Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden received the Bundesverdienstkreuz (Federal Cross of Merit). In 1994 he was decorated with the Bayerischen Verdienstorden (Bavarian Order of Merit), and at the same time was awarded the Prize of the “Bavarian Volksstiftung”. In 2000, the President of Austria bestowed upon Schmidt-Gaden the title Professor for Life
