Maximilian Schmitt began his musical training as a member of the Regensburg Domspatzen, before completing his singing studies at the University of the Arts in Berlin. From 2005 to 2008 he was a member of the Opera Studio of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich; he subsequently joined the ensemble of the National Theatre in Mannheim, where he remained for four years.
In 2012 he made his debut as Tamino (Die Zauberflöte) at the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam. He went on to sing Mozart’s Idomeneo at the Opéra national du Rhin in Strasbourg, Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni) at the Vienna State Opera and Pedrillo (Die Entführung aus dem Serail) under Zubin Mehta at La Scala, Milan.
He also sang Max in Weber’s Der Freischütz at venues including the Aalto Musiktheater in Essen and Erik (Der fliegende Holländer) at the opera houses of Graz and Cologne and at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris. In the 2023/24 season he made his debut as Siegmund (Die Walküre) with Concerto Köln under Kent Nagano.
Maximilian Schmitt is a regular performer on the international concert scene. He has worked with orchestras such as the Tonhalle Orchestra, Zurich, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic. He has collaborated closely with conductors including Franz Welser-Möst, Kirill Petrenko, Teodor Currentzis, Daniel Harding, Manfred Honeck, Fabio Luisi, Philippe Herreweghe, Thomas Hengelbrock and René Jacobs.
Engagements in the 2025/26 season included his role debut as Lohengrin at the Hanover State Opera, concert performances of Die Walküre in Wuppertal and on tour with the SWR Symphony Orchestra and François-Xavier Roth (Act I), Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in Bucharest and Madrid, Haydn’s The Creation in Trondheim and Gateshead and Schmidt’s Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln under Fabio Luisi at the Vienna Konzerthaus.
He has also sung the Evangelist in Bach’s St Matthew Passion with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Mendelssohn’s Elijah in Lisbon, Mozart’s Requiem in Monte Carlo, Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra under Manfred Honeck and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at the Beethoven Easter Festival in Warsaw.
He gives regular recitals with pianist Gerold Huber, performing at festivals and venues including the Heidelberg Spring Festival, the Schwarzenberg Schubertiade, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, London’s Wigmore Hall and the Cologne Philharmonie. He has also appeared in Schubert’s Winterreise in Hanover.
His extensive discography includes the solo albums Träumend wandle ich bei Tag, Die schöne Müllerin and Wie freundlich strahlt der Tag. He can be heard as Belmonte on the recording of Die Entführung aus dem Serail with the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin under René Jacobs.
