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 one of the most promising young German pianists of her generation. With her unique appearance in combination with highly sensitive, yet profound and energetic interpretations, she has already impressed audiences in halls such as the Laeiszhalle and the Concertgebouw Amsterdam.
She gave her first performance in Hamburg’s Laeiszhalle at the age of six and has been in demand as a pianist ever since. Hanna has since performed at venues including the Laeiszhalle Hamburg, the Berliner Philharmonie, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Auditorium in Bolzano, the Palau de la Musica in Barcelona and the Teatro Civico Vercelli. She is also a regular guest at festivals such as the Heidelberger Klavierwoche, the NiederRheinLande Piano Festival and the Klaviertage Unterelbe.
Hanna Schwalbe, 2022 by Sören L. Schirmer
“There is something indescribable in her music-making with impressive sensitivities, great abilities on analysation, technical precision and poetic mindsets which I would like to only wish the most ideal platform to develop this gift of talent for a brilliant future.”
Haiou Zhang
Hanna was already able to impress at competitions at a young age. Her competition successes include a first prize with the highest score in the national competition ‘Jugend musiziert’, combined with a special prize from the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben. The prizewinners‘ concert was broadcasted on the WDR and subsequently released on a CD with selected contributions. This was followed by a 2nd prize at the international Steinway Competition and 1st prize at the Bechstein Piano Competition. In 2021, she was the youngest participant to reach the second round of the International Telekom Beethoven Competition in Bonn. In 2022, she was selected from over 600 applicants in the Glocal Piano Project as one of the finalists for the Feruccio Busoni International Piano Competition in the following year and was one of thirteen pianists to reach the final in 2023. Most recently, she won the Yamaha Scholarship Competition of the YMEF in Stuttgart in February 2024.
Hanna has also been awarded several scholarships. She has been a scholarship holder of the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben since 2017, won a selection audition of the Clavarte Foundation and was awarded a scholarship from the Hans and Eugenia Jütting Foundation in Stendal. Also, Hanna is a scholarship holder from the Musikakademie Liechtenstein.
At the age of 14, she began her early studies at the IFF (Institut zur Frühförderung musikalisch Hochbegabter) at the Hanover University of Music in the classes of Prof. Dr. Elena Levit, Prof. Igor Chetuev and Prof. Christopher Oakden. After her Abitur in 2018, she has been studying for a bachelor’s degree in Hanover in the classes of Prof. Bernd Goetzke and Prof. Christopher Oakden. She also took lessons with Prof. Olivier Gardon (Paris, Hanover) and on historical keyboard instruments with Prof. Zvi Meniker. Since 2023, she has continued to study for her master’s degree in Hanover in the class of Prof. Bernd Goetzke.
Hanna is also a passionate chamber musician and has received inspiration with various ensembles from Prof Oliver Wille, Prof Markus Becker and Stefan Heinemeyer, among
others.
She has also received inspiration from Imogen Cooper, Cyprien Catsaris, Severin von Eckardstein, Janina Fialkowska, Martin Helmchen, Robert Levin, Igor Levit, Claudio Martinez Mehner, Piotr Paleczny, Florian Noack and Arie Vardi, among others.