A 2017 Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra alumnus, John Schindler is a recent graduate of the Juilliard School, where he studied piano with Matti Raekallio. John has soloed with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Brevard Music Center Orchestra, Camerata New York, and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and played in venues such as the New World Center, Merkin Hall, Uihlein Hall, and Pepsico Recital Hall. John’s performance of the Schumann concerto with the Wisconsin Philharmonic was broadcast on Milwaukee Public Television in December 2016, and TMJ4 news has featured him in its weekly “Positively Milwaukee” segment. 

John’s awards include being selected as a 2017 YoungArts National Finalist and winning the third prize, Best Performance of a Duo, and Wisconsin Contestant awards at the 2016 PianoArts North American Competition, where he was the youngest semifinalist. He has also won the Theodor Leschetizky Concerto Competition, the Stillman Kelley National Music Competition, the Brevard Music Center Concerto Competition, and the Wisconsin Youth Piano Competition.

John has studied and performed at the Kneisel Hall, Art of the Piano, Orford Musique, PianoTexas, YoungArts Week, and Southeastern Piano festivals; and he has participated in master classes with Leon Fleisher, Joseph Kalichstein, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Julian Martin, Robert McDonald, William Grant Naboré, Jon Nakamatsu, John O’Conor, and Nelita True. A graduate of the Music Institute of Chicago Academy, John’s former teachers include Alan Chow in Chicago and Margarita Kontorovsky in Wisconsin. 

In addition to his piano studies, John pursues interests in philosophy, musical analysis, and composition, the latter of which he has studied with Philip Lasser and Andrew Norman. John is currently a first-year M.A. student in philosophy at Northern Illinois University. His philosophical interests especially concern the nature of philosophical debates and methodology seen through the lens of philosophical logic and the philosophy of language.