Daniel Heide

Daniel Heide grew up in Weimar, where he was playing the piano at the tender age of five; only a year later he joined the gifted-pupil class of Prof. Sigrid Lehmstedt at the “Belvedere” special school for music in his native city. Five years later, however, he left the well-trodden path of the musical wunderkind and interrupted his piano studies, swapping the piano for percussion and taking on the athletic challenge of a cycling team. His return to the keyboard at the age of 17 was a surprise move, but now he was motivated by his own personal approach to music. He studied piano at university level in Weimar, but what really drove him on and inspired him was what he learnt from his own discovery and love of music; in essence, he remained self-taught. During these years he concentrated singlemindedly on work with singers – attending master classes with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Christa Ludwig – and chamber-music performance. Numerous lieder recitals and chamber concerts in many German cities, in Austria, Switzerland, France, Scotland, Italy, Spain, Greece, the Czech Republic and Iceland are proof of his intensive concert activities. In addition to his regular work with such singers as Stella Doufexis, Ingeborg Danz, Britta Schwarz, Roman Trekel, Andrè Schuen and Tobias Berndt he has played lieder recitals with Christoph Pregardien, Simone Kermes, Luca Pisaroni, Johannes Weisser, Ruth Ziesak, Anna Lucia Richter, Norma Nahoun, Sybilla Rubens and Lothar Odinius. He has also played sonata-recitals and chamber music with Tabea Zimmermann, Antje Weithaas, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, Barbara Buntrock, Pauline Sachse, Benoit Fromanger, Julian Steckel, Alexander Kniazev and Konstanze von Gutzeit.

One key element in his career as accompanist is the establishment of the concert series “The lyrical salon – lieder recitals at Schloss Ettersburg”. Under his artistic direction, lieder have been sung there one evening a month since May 2011. Lovers of the art song – including ever more young people! – form a loyal and growing audience for these concerts with celebrated soloists of the lied genre.

An avid record collector, the Franz Liszt prizewinner is constantly in search of musical gems to enlarge his repertoire, and his love of music extends to other genres such as jazz, rock, pop and the chanson. Daniel Heide teaches at the conservatoires of Berlin (the “Hanns Eisler”) and Weimar (the “Franz Liszt”).