User:Cschurch/sandbox

Cyrill Schürch (born October 22, 1974) is an Swiss composer of orchestral, choral, chamber, and educational works. He lives in Zurich, Switzerland, and teaches piano, composition and music theory at the Musikschule der Stadt Zug, where is is also serving as assistant director. His music is frequently performed all over the world and has received numerous awards.

Biography
Born in Lucerne, Switzerland he has originally started learning to play the accordion and later also took up piano at age 10. Before starting his studies in the US he studied piano privately with Konstantin Scherbakov. He holds degrees with distinction in both piano and composition from the University of Houston Moores School of Music working with pianist Nancy Weems and composer Robert Nelson. During his summer at the Aspen Music Festival he studied composition with Sidney Hodkinson and George Tsontakis and piano with John Perry. Other teachers included David Del Tredici and David Olan during a year of postgraduate studies at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City. In 2008, he received a PhD from King’s College London studying with Robert Keeley and attended masterclasses with George Benjamin and Silvina Milstein. He is assistant director of the Musikschule Zug where he also teaches piano, music theory and composition.