Sontraud Speidel is Professor of Music and Head of the Piano Department at the distinguished state conservatory of music in Karlsruhe, Germany. She has been hailed by music critic Wolf-Eberhard von Lewinski as "one of the most inspiring, gripping and convincing pianists of today." A world class artist with over a dozen commercial recordings to her credit, she has thrilled audiences around the world in hundreds of recitals and solos with performances noted for their breath taking detail, subtle nuance, and exciting musical spontaneity.

Born in Germany as World War II was ending, Speidel was raised in a family that valued music. She began her first lessons at age five on accordion, an instrument both parents played. After just a few months of study she was encouraged by her teacher to study piano because the accordion was too limiting for her talent. She would study both, as well as violin.

Her family, like many others in post-war Germany, was poor. Even so, Speidel recalls, they never went without food. While her parents could not afford music lessons for her, teachers, impressed by her talent and promise, helped by obtaining scholarships for her at the nearby music school.

At age eleven, Speidel was selected to study piano at the music conservatory in her home city of Karlsruhe. Five years later she won first prize in a national competition with contestants from all of the schools in West Germany. This success would be the first of several in Germany and in other international competitions that would include the Bach Prize in Washington, D.C., the Boston Symphony Jackson Prize at Tanglewood, and Italy's Ettore Pozzoli Prize.

She graduated with honors from the conservatory at age twenty-one, earning both a teacher's degree and Concert Diploma. She then continued studies with several prominent teachers in Frankfurt, Brussels, and in Switzerland. In her late twenties, she started teaching part-time at her alma mater, giving lessons to the music minors.

A number of successful performances as recitalist and soloist with numerous orchestras in the next decade, including an invitational concert at the request of German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt at the Palais Schaumburg in Bonn in 1979, led to recognition and an appointment at the conservatory in Trossinger in 1980. Two years later Speidel was offered professorship at the conservatory in Karlsruhe. She was appointed head of the keyboard, guitar and lute areas in 1991.

A warm and affirming person by nature, Speidel is a natural teacher who inspires students to reach for and achieve ultimate musical results. Her master classes in the United States and her master courses in Germany, Israel and Vienna, are regarded as insightful and inspiring by the students and their teachers. She is in demand as an adjudicator for international competitions.

Speidel particularly enjoys giving music lessons. She recently observed, "I especially love teaching on a one-to-one basis. It is such a personal thing. Once a year I take an excursion with my students. When I see them all together, I get frightened. I know each of their stories and feel so much responsibility for each one. But, usually I see them one at a time and am able to deal with it on that basis."

Speidel met her husband Alfred Csammer, a professional violinist, while in her teens. He had been raised an Adventist and introduced her to the church. An active performer, he played for years as a member of the famous Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. He is now an assistant professor at Gutenberg University in Mainz. While he has had to wrestle with problems associated with making music and keeping the Sabbath, her career as a piano performer has been relatively free of this problem. Even so, she has had to make some difficult decisions in this area.

Although her repertoire includes the usual works performed by concert pianists, Speidel particularly enjoys performing nineteenth century compositions written by Fanny Hensel, sister of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, and also less frequently played works by Wagner, Hummel and others. This music is typically presented within the context of more familiar works in solo and chamber music recitals.

Despite her frequent concertizing and teaching and administrative duties at the conservatory, Speidel finds time to practice regularly. Additionally, she was elected in 1994 to serve as president of the Piano-Gruppe Karlsruhe, a performance study group which also sponsors promising young pianists in concerts. She greatly expanded the scope of this group's work in her first year of leadership, increasing its membership from around 80 to 200.

Speidel's concerts and recordings have been hailed as exciting and memorable performances which set the standard. As von Lewinski recently observed " ... she is able to recognize the wealth of ideas in pieces, then present such riches with precise tonal balance, unusual spontaneity of breathing and impulse, deep sensitivity and her own individual - but never arbitrary - shaping. There is always excitement in her playing

While she thoroughly enjoys performing on the piano, Speidel's enjoyment of music is inclusive: "I love all good music experiences. While I enjoy playing and hearing piano, I also love to hear and play with other instruments and attend symphony concerts. Good music can be beautiful and uplifting. It is an ultimate human experience."

I teach at the Hochschule for Music in Karlsruhe, West Germany.

I am Professor of Music in charge of piano.

We are required to teach twenty hours per week, plus committee meetings and examinations. Most of my students take a one-hour lesson per week, although several take two-hour lessons.

Well, we have performance examinations for entrance and to meet performance requirements once a student is accepted. For instance, I just finished sitting on one of the two examination committees for entrance into our piano program.

Oh, it is very difficult and competitive. Only five to ten percent pass the piano examination and are accepted for study. For instance, I will have only two new students this year.

Yes, in Germany.

At least thirty, which includes solo recitals, appearances with orchestras, and Chamber music. My husband, Fredy Csammer, a violinist, and I perform together. I also perform with a very fine cellist.

Oh yes, I perform frequently on radio--particularly 20th century music and seldom played music.

Let's see, three chamber music and seven solo piano albums. The seventh album is just coming out--it is music of Fanny Hensel, the sister of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. About half of the music on this recording is unpublished.

Well, a very famous German musicologist who lives in Karlsruhe asked me to perform some of Hensel's music at our Mendelssohn Festival. Some of it was very difficult to obtain from the library in Berlin. I was also asked to ?erform a previously unpublished "Song Without Words" which was discovered in 1982 in an old guest book.

First of all, most of her music is worth playing. For instance, she has a Seasons Cycle which consists of twelve pieces--one for each month. Most are a melody with accompaniment, but there is a typical Romantic fugue and there is a chorale at the end of December.

She and Felix sound quite a bit alike; in fact, he published two or three of her works as his. He was very jealous of her compositional ability and told her not to publish, but later encouraged and helped her.

Some people have suggested that I am interested in Fanny Hensel from a feminist point of view. I am not. I am interested in her music because it is worthy--not because she is a woman. I am, however, sure her music would have been published sooner if she had been a man.

First of all, I am curious about music both known and unknown, and if it is good, I study it. Because I can learn quickly, I often get calls to learn works not in the standard repertoire or 20th century music. Next year, I am premiering a new work by a German composer. I only do 20th century music which is played on the keys with the fingers. Many of these performances are for German radio.

Yes and No. Most concert presenters would not accept a whole evening of modern music and even if you do get one performance, it is hard to get second and third performances. Therefore, I use this music within recital programs which contain other styles of music.

Oh, that is a difficult question. Bach, of course, but I like all music that is well-written and worthy of performance.

Absolutely no limitation. For the professional orchestral player, such as my husband, or for the professional choir singer there are more problems-but not for the solo pianist.

First, if you can do anything else and love it, do it. Concertizing is a hard life; it demands much and is highly competitive.

Second, you must have good nerves and good health.

Third, success as a professional performer depends on a combination of luck, being at the right place at the right time, and knowing the right people.