Sir András Schiff was born in Budapest in 1953. He received his first piano lessons at the age of five by Elisabeth Vadász. He later continued his studies at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest with Prof. Pál Kadosa, György Kurtág and Ferenc Rados and with George Malcolm in London.

Piano recitals are an important part of his activity, especially the cyclical performances of the piano works of Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann and Bartók. Since 2004, Sir András Schiff has performed the complete cycle of Ludwig van Beethoven's piano sonatas in chronological order in more than 20 cities. Their live recordings from the Zurich Tonhalle on CD (ECM) received the highest awards.

For his recording "Ghost Variations" with works by Robert Schumann (ECM), Sir András Schiff received the International Classical Music Award 2012 in the category "Solo Instrument. Recording of the year". A duo CD together with his wife Yuuko Shiokawa (violin) with works by J.S. Bach, F. Busoni and L. van Beethoven was released in autumn 2017 and a recording with piano works by F. Schubert in 2019. His most recent recordings are from the last two years: A chamber music edition in collaboration with clarinettist and composer Jörg Widmann includes the two clarinet sonatas op. 120 by J. Brahms as well as the Intermezzi for piano composed by J. Widmann and dedicated to Sir András Schiff. The latest recording with a recording of the two piano concertos by J. Brahms on a Blüthner piano with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment was released in 2021.

In 2017 his book “Music Comes from Silence”, essays and conversations with Martin Meyer, was published by Bärenreiter and Henschel.

Sir András Schiff performs with most of the internationally important orchestras and conductors. One of his main focuses is on performances of the piano concertos of Bach, Mozart and Beethoven under his direction. In 1999 he founded his own chamber orchestra, the "Cappella Andrea Barca", which he works with closely as conductor and soloist, as he does with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

Sir András Schiff has been a passionate chamber musician since his early youth. From 1989 to 1998 he directed the Musiktage Mondsee, a chamber music festival that received high international recognition. Together with Heinz Holliger, he held the artistic direction of the Ittinger Pfingstkonzerte at Kartause Ittingen, Switzerland, from 1995 to 2013. Since 1998, the concert series "Omaggio a Palladio" has been held at the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza under the direction of Sir András Schiff.

In the spring of 2011 Mr Schiff attracted attention because of his opposition to the alarming political development in Hungary and in view of the ensuing attacks on him from some Hungarian Nationalists, decided not to perform again in his home country.

Sir András Schiff has been awarded several international prizes. He was recognised for his exceptional standing as a Beethoven interpreter in June 2006 by being elected an honorary member of the Beethoven-Haus Bonn. In September 2008 Sir András Schiff received the Wigmore Hall Medal for his 30 years of musical activity. Sir András Schiff is also the recipient of the 2011 Robert Schumann Prize of the City of Zwickau. In January 2012, the artist was awarded the Golden Mozart Medal of the International Mozarteum Foundation. The following June, he received the "Order pour le mérite for Sciences and Arts". In the same year he was appointed as an honorary member of the Wiener Konzerthaus and as a "Special Supernumerary Fellow of Balliol College" (Oxford, UK).