Matthias Fischer, 42
Physician
Würzburg, Germany
Germany

Born in 1973, in Bad Kissingen, Germany, Matthias Fischer received his first piano lessons from his parents at age 5. Throughout his childhood, he won prizes in the German youth competition, Jugend Musiziert, and briefly studied the piano at Munich Musikhochschule with Karl-Hermann Mrongovius from 1993–1994. One year later, he began his career in medicine as a student at the University of Würzburg. He finished his medical thesis in 2000 and pursued an M.D./Ph.D. thesis on mental retardation. Since 2007, he has been an assistant doctor and researcher at the university hospital for psychiatry in Würzburg. Throughout his work in medicine, however, Dr. Fischer continued to hone his piano skills. In 1996, he placed second at the first amateur competition in which he participated, in Utrecht, Netherlands, and he looks forward to this Competition and the possibility of playing with an orchestra.

COMPETITION REPERTOIRE

Preliminary Round
RACHMANINOV   Étude-Tableau in E-flat Minor, op. 39, no. 5
SCRIABIN   Etude in D-sharp Minor, op. 8, no. 12

Quarterfinal Round
CHOPIN   Ballade No. 3 in A-flat Major, op. 47
MENDELSSOHN   Variations sérieuses, op. 54

Semifinal Round
SCHUMANN   Davidsbündlertänze, op. 6

Final Round
BEETHOVEN   Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, op. 15: I. Allegro con brio