Staffan Scheja

Swedish classical pianist, born April 25, 1950.

He began studying piano at the age of nine and made his public concert debut at the age of 14 with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Herbert Blomstedt and also with the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra under Jorma Panula. He studied 1964–1969 at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm for Gunnar Hallhagen and 1969–1972 at the Juilliard School of the Performing Arts in New York for pianists Rosina Lhévinne, Ilona Kabos and Ania Dorfmann. In 1975 he was the winner of the international Busoni piano competition in Bolzano.

He broke through already in his teens and was widely described as a "prodigy" and "front page name" and he has since played on the world's big stages with a number of prominent orchestras and conductors. For several years he lived and worked in the United States and has, among other things, given concerts in Carnegie Hall, in the White House and during several Swedish state visits. In 1984 he presented the cross-genre album Europa, together with Björn J: son Lindh.

He has been professor of piano - and also vice-rector - at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm since 1997 and a member of the Royal Academy of Music since 2003. He is the founder and artistic director of the Gotland Chamber Music Festival, which has been held on Gotland every summer since the 1980s, and for a few years he has also been responsible for the Gotland Baltic Music Academy, which is a masterclass and educational activity in connection with the festival. Scheja is also part of the management and teaching staff for the music education at the Little Academy.

In 1995 he was awarded Litteris et Artibus and a couple of his many recordings have been awarded Grammys.

Scheja was one of the participants in SVT's series Stjärnorna på slottet in the 2008/2009 season. In August 2010, he was the summer host of P1.

He is married to director Lizzie Scheja (born Oved) and with her he has two daughters, Ania Scheja and Alexandra Scheja. He is also the father of Rebecca Scheja and Leonard Scheja with his ex-wife Marianne Scheja. He also has a son from a previous relationship with the actress Agneta Eckemyr.