Seth Schultheis is an American pianist based in London, currently an Aud Jebsen Fellow at the Royal Academy of Music. Fluent in a wide range of styles and composers, Seth is also a dedicated performer of contemporary music. Seth recently achieved success in the 2025 Telekom Beethoven Competition in Bonn, winning First Prize and the Special Prize for Chamber Music. Subsequently, he performed Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn under the direction of Dirk Kaftan for the Beethovenhalle New Year’s Concert, where his playing was described as “brilliant”, imbued with “clarity and precision”, “refined sensitivity”, and “rhythmic vitality”.
Upcoming solo appearances include Bergson Kunstkraftwerk in Munich, Musikfreunde Kiel, Lichtenstein Music Academy, and Young Stars of Classical Music in Kirchheimbolanden, along with the Frick Collection in NYC with cellist Jason Ma. Later in 2026, Seth will continue his fellowship with the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, before embarking on an 11-concert tour throughout Germany with the Klassische Philharmonie Bonn and closing the year with a debut recital at Wigmore Hall. Seth has performed extensively in the US and UK, in such venues as Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, U.S. State Department, and Ely Cathedral, in addition to solo recitals in venues such as Teatro Cajasol (Seville) and Mendelssohnhaus (Leipzig).
During the summer of 2020, he organized and performed an online recital series with 13 different programs and commentary, entitled “Saturday Streams”. Seth has also performed as a soloist with aLUMNI Orchestra of Cambridge, Musica Europa, New York Session Symphony, New York Concerti Sinfonietta, Manhattan School of Music Symphony Orchestra, and Londontowne Symphony Orchestra with Stephen Armstrong, Marius Stravinsky, Benjamin Niemczyk, George Manahan, Russell Ger, and Anna Binneweg. 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, Finalist in the 2024 Washington International Piano Competition, and Second Prize in the Dudley International Piano Competition in Birmingham.
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 has received degrees from Manhattan School of Music and Royal Academy of Music while studying primarily with Phillip Kawin, Solomon Mikowsky, and Mei-Ting Sun.
Updated in January 2026