Hanna Schwalbe
PIANIST
BIOGRAPHY
Those who closed their eyes and 'just' listened had the impression of mature piano playing by an artist who was confident in her craft. She combined a sense of style with natural technique and interpretively exploited the pieces of her concert evening, which were by Beethoven, Schumann and Liszt.
Mannheim Morning
Born in Hamburg in 2001, Hanna Schwalbe is currently among the most compelling pianists of her generation. Her artistic development is shaped by some of the most prominent musicians of our time: she is currently pursuing her prestigious Soloklasse degree under Igor Levit at the University of Music, Drama and Media Hanover, refined her artistic expression in parallel studies with Claudio Martínez-Mehner, and will continue her journey from October 2026 under the guidance of Sir András Schiff at the Barenboim-Said Akademie in Berlin.
Hanna Schwalbe gained widespread international attention as a solo finalist at the 64th Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition in Bolzano. Highlights of her career so far include performances at world-renowned venues such as the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Palau de la Música in Barcelona, the Bolzano Auditorium, the Laeiszhalle Hamburg, the Teatro Civico Vercelli, as well as the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival (SHMF). As a soloist, she has performed with orchestras such as the North German Philharmonic Rostock under the baton of Markus Bosch. Her artistic work is documented through official live recordings and radio broadcasts.
A deeply considered understanding of art and the pursuit of the stories behind the works define Hanna Schwalbe’s artistic profile and her versatile repertoire. On stage, her playing is characterized by a balance of delicate poetry and energetic virtuosity.
Hanna Schwalbe [...] finds a softer and calmer way od expressing herself that perfectly reflects her demeanor - sovereign and angelic, a delicate presence that radiates energetic virtuosity at the piano.
- Taunus Nachrichten
Hanna Schwalbe is the winner of the Yamaha Music Foundation Scholarship Competition (2024) and a prize-winner of both the Carl Bechstein Competition and the International Steinway Piano Competition. Her path is continuously supported by scholarships from renowned institutions, including the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben (Gerd Bucerius and Carl-Heinz Illies Scholarships), the International Music Academy in Liechtenstein, the Hans and Eugenia Jütting Foundation, the Oscar and Vera Ritter Foundation, and the Clavarte Foundation.
She began her academic training at the age of 14 as a pre-college student at the IFF Hanover under Prof. Elena Levit. Following her high school graduation, she completed both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees with top honors at the University of Music, Drama and Media Hanover in the classes of Prof. Christopher Oakden and Prof. Bernd Goetzke. She received important aesthetic guidance on historical performance practice during her studies of historical keyboard instruments with Prof. Zvi Meniker, as well as in masterclasses with Imogen Cooper, Martin Helmchen, Janina Fialkowska, Robert Levin, Cyprien Katsaris, and Arie Vardi.