Seth Schultheis is an American pianist based in London, recently awarded a Professional Diploma at the Royal Academy of Music after a year of study with Mei-Ting Sun. Fluent in a wide range of styles and composers, Seth has a particular affinity for Beethoven, Schumann, and Brahms, along with being a dedicated performer of contemporary music.
In May 2025, Seth was awarded second prize in the Dudley International Piano Competition in Birmingham. Recent engagements include a performance of Mozart’s fifth piano concerto with the aLUMNI Orchestra of Cambridge and Stephen Armstrong, along with various solo recitals throughout the UK and US. He has been accepted into the prestigious Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, where he will spend the summer on a fully-funded fellowship, preparing and performing 20th and 21st century music with conductors Timothy Weiss and Donald Crockett.
Seth has previously given solo recitals in venues such as Temple Emanu-El (New York), Teatro Cajasol (Seville), Mendelssohnhaus (Leipzig), and Ely Cathedral, and has collaborated with Benjamin Niemczyk and George Manahan in performances of the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 and the Berg Chamber Concerto. During the summer of 2020, he organized and performed an online recital series with 13 different programs and commentary, entitled “Saturday Streams”. Past competition highlights include winning Grand Prize in the 2017 Osaka International Music Competition, Fourth Prize and Best Commissioned Piece at the 2022 New York International Piano Competition, and Finalist in the 2024 Washington International Piano Competition.
Seth is a passionate collaborator across different artistic disciplines, and has worked with dance and theater companies such as New Chamber Ballet, Fluid Creature Collective, Spokehouse Productions, and Columbia Musical Theater Society, in projects that have involved conducting, improvising, and composing original music.
He received the majority of his training at the Manhattan School of Music, where he attended Precollege and earned a Bachelor’s Degree under the tutelage of Phillip Kawin, before completing a Master’s Degree with Solomon Mikowsky.