Biography
Irmin Schmidt (born 29 May 1937) is a German keyboardist and composer, best known as a founding member of the band Can. Schmidt was born in Berlin, Germany, began his studies in music at the conservatorium in Dortmund, at the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, and he studied composition in Karlheinz Stockhausen's Cologne Courses for New Music at the Rheinische Musikschule, Cologne.He started work mainly as a conductor and performed in concerts with the Bochum Symphony; the Vienna Symphony; and the Dortmund Ensemble for New Music, which he founded in 1962. During this time, he received several conducting awards. Schmidt also worked as Kapellmeister at the Theater Aachen, as docent for musical theatre and chanson at the Schauspielschule Bochum (drama school), and as concert pianist.
In 1968, Schmidt founded the experimental krautrock band Can with Holger Czukay, Michael Karoli, and Jaki Liebezeit. Schmidt served as Can's keyboardist until the group's disbandment in 1979. He participated in both reunions of Can, in 1986 and 1991.
Schmidt has scored more than 40 films and television programs, including Knife in the Head (1978) and Palermo Shooting (2008). He has recorded a few solo albums and written an opera, Gormenghast, based on Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast Trilogy. Gormenghast premiered at the Opernhaus Wuppertal in 1998. Excerpts from the work were released on Spoon Records in 1999. His wife Hildegard Schmidt has been responsible for Can's management and record label, Spoon Records, since the 1970s.
As of 2008, Schmidt lives in Southern France. His interests outside music include cooking. In 2015, he received the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Chevalier).In 2018, Schmidt and British writer and editor Rob Young published a book on Can entitled All Gates Open: The Story of Can.
Filmography
all 46
Movies 44
self 6
TV Shows 2
Meet Me in the Bathroom (2022)
Zwei allein (2014)
Mord in Eberswalde (2013)
Lösegeld (2012)
Palermo Shooting (2008)
In Sachen Kaminski (2008)
Paparazzo (2007)
Snowland (2005)
Der rote Schakal (1997)
Negerküsse (1992)
Pizza Colonia (1991)
Alle Geister kreisen (1985)
Flight to Berlin (1984)
Ruhe sanft, Bruno (1983)
The Man on the Wall (1982)
Flächenbrand (1981)
Slow Attack (1980)
Der Tote bin ich (1979)
Knife in the Head (1978)
Alice in the Cities (1974)
Scene of the Crime (1970)
The Million Game (1970)
The Brutes (1970)
Kama Sutra (1969)
Agilok & Blubbo (1969)
Information
Known ForSound
GenderMale
Birthday1937-05-29 (87 years old)
Birth PlaceBerlin, Germany
CitizenshipsGermany
Also Known AsCan, The Can
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