Violoncellist, gambist, composer and pedagogue, born in ‘s-Hertogenbosch (Province Noord-Brabant). He studied cello at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam, historical cello at Rotterdam’s Conservatory and viola da gamba at the Oberlin Conservatory (Ohio/USA). He teaches since 2015 at the Cleveland Institute of Music (Ohio/USA).
Praised for his “interpretive imagination and patrician command of the cello” (Cleveland Plain Dealer), René Schiffer is recognized as one of the most creative musicians on the international period-instrument scene. A native of Holland, he was a protégé of the great Dutch cellist Anner Bijlsma. He is particularly admired for his interpretation of the Bach cello suites, all of which he performs from memory. He is also a specialist in Romantic cello, performing the works of Beethoven and Schubert on gut strings in historical style.
Is there any connection between Einstein's discovery of relativity in 1905, Schoenberg's first employment of atonality in 1909 and Kandinsky's first non-figurative painting in or around 1910? Schiffer, principal cellist of Apollo's Fire, is convinced there is, and is passionate in sharing his discoveries of the essence of music and the arts as mirrors of the human experience. Historical performance is only a part of this quest, as much of what he thinks of as truth in music transcends the mere historicity of the instruments and the musical styles. Schiffer's playing, composing and lecturing is dedicated to the uncovering of these truths, and the joy music is supposed, by its nature, to provide the player and the listener. Schiffer lives in Toledo (Ohio). (from: Music in Familiar Spaces)