A voice crafted over twenty years into a precise instrument for telling stories in song. “A voice… so atmospheric.” bbc radio 3
voice & poetry quartet · hannover
Sylvia’s own poetry inside attentive, exploratory improvisations, tracing the shifting consciousness of the self. With Paulina Sofie Kiss, Miles Perkin and Seb Silas. Premiered at Tonhalle Hannover, May 2026.
solo project · debut ep
Vocal soundscapes, layered and cinematic. “Unique vocal soundscapes. Cinematic and surreal melodies… So captivating!” — Maria Chiara Argirò
vocal improvisation ensemble · new album
Four voices singing “from the common well of our ancestors near and far in place and time”, recorded in a church tower in Hornsey, North London, with percussionist Adriano Adewale.
ongoing series · hannover
Collaborative, interdisciplinary improvisation at RAMPE. Season four runs August to November 2026, with a guest at each session.
“Sylvia has a subtle gift for sound improvisation that plucks seemingly previously hidden strands of melodic joy and weaves these back in the ensemble firmament.”paul l, babel label
Sylvia Schmidt is a German vocalist from the three-country corner of Saxony, where East German, Czech and Polish traditions meet in the heritage of Lower Silesia.
She began her musical journey at the Johann-Adam Hiller Musikschule in Görlitz, a city where one can cross to Poland by footbridge. She later moved to London and has since established herself as a versatile contemporary performer, soloist and ensemble musician, specialising in original and avant-garde projects while also working as a commercial and session vocalist.
Over 20 years, Sylvia has crafted her voice into a finely carved, precise instrument. She has earned a reputation as a fearless improviser who knits spontaneous invention into written music, while her empathic nature keeps every performance rooted in connection with the audience.
Her work spans the intimate guitar-voice duo Kitchman / Schmidt and the roaring Slavic space-jazz of Mimika Orchestra; she writes for Esquivo and White Flower, has sung with London Contemporary Voices and collaborated with Glasshopper, Maria Chiara Argirò, Thodoris Ziarkas and Mike De Souza. She has performed at the Water Tower Art Festival in Sofia, Bulgaria, and co-composed music for the Catalonian documentary Pan Seco. She is also a dedicated educator, specialising in group improvisation and circle singing.
stages
Southbank Centre, Union Chapel, Pizza Express Jazz Club, The Spice of Life, Vortex Jazz Club, Café Oto
festivals
EFG London Jazz Festival, Edinburgh, Fife, Marlborough (UK)
Derry (Northern Ireland)
Cork & Kinsale (Ireland)
Jazzwoche Hannover (Germany)
RZM Festival, Barcelona (Spain)
Water Tower Art Festival, Sofia (Bulgaria)
Škocjan Caves (Slovenia)
training
BA (Hons) Jazz Performance, Middlesex University · PGCert Performance Teaching, Guildhall School of Music & Drama
collaborative · interdisciplinary · improvisation
Open improvisation sessions at RAMPE, Hannover, where musicians and artists from different disciplines make work together in the moment. Sound, voice, movement and image are drawn from separate strands into one piece, the way threads become cloth. Each session invites a guest; session 4.2 featured Daniel Schagun.
Funded by Landeshauptstadt Hannover, Fachbereich Kultur, and House of Music Hannover e.V.
Voice & poetry quartet. Sylvia’s poetry with Paulina Sofie Kiss (viola, electronics), Miles Perkin (bass, electronics) and Seb Silas (tenor saxophone).
Solo vocal project; debut EP MESSENGERS.
Vocal improvisation ensemble with Guillermo Rozenthuler, Kate Smith and Jaka Škapin, founded 2019, exploring singing before and beyond language.
Jazz quartet with Christian Prior, Nick Ereaut and Gaspar Sena; recorded live at Lightship 95, London.
Guitar–voice duo with James Kitchman. As Long As Songbirds Sing: “quietly rebellious” (Songlines).
Fully improvised vocal album, recorded in one three-hour session. No rehearsal, plan or director.
Co-founded European jazz collective built on cross-pollination. Feat. Maria Chiara Argirò, Thodoris Ziarkas, Riccardo Chiaberta and Fabrizio Brusca.
Contemporary classical trio of stillness, silence and contradiction. Feat. Will Newell (Solem Quartet) and Seb Silas.
London trio between free jazz, rock and folk. Feat. Jonathan Chung, Corrie Dick and James Kitchman.
Twenty-piece trans-idiomatic orchestra founded by Mak Murtić.
singing lessons · english & deutsch
Lessons for all ages and levels in Hannover: pop, jazz, soul, R&B and rock; technique, improvisation, songwriting and microphone craft.
Sylvia also leads workshops in group improvisation and circle singing.
lessons, approach & bookingfine · contact
