Unlocking Beethoven: A Three-Part Lecture Series with Gabriel Schaff, Orchestra Lumos

Discover Beethoven’s genius through a fresh lens in this thought-provoking, accessible lecture series led by violinist, author, and educator Gabriel Schaff. Each 45-minute session explores one of Beethoven’s compositional periods—early, middle, and late—revealing the evolution of his voice, his bold innovations, and the human stories behind the music.

Blending historical insight, musical excerpts, and compelling narrative, Schaff invites audiences to engage with Beethoven not just as a composer, but as a revolutionary thinker whose work continues to shape how we listen, feel, and create.

Ideal for music lovers, lifelong learners, and anyone curious about the mind behind the music.

About Gabriel Schaff

Gabriel Schaff is a violinist, educator, and an internationally recognized author of books and articles pertaining to instruments of the violin family, the music written for them, the artisans who build them, and the performers who play them. 

He has performed both chamber and orchestral music on five continents. “As soloist, Schaff played the Bach (E major) concerto with aplomb” (Princeton Packet). “Schaff’s double-stop technique was valuable to hear” (Kleine Zeitung, Graz, Austria). 

In 2009, his first book “The Essential Guide to Bows of the Violin Family” was praised in the string world as an unprecedented, valuable, and accessible combination of historical, theoretical, and practical information on all aspects of bows. Strad Magazine hailed it as “excellent…well-thought-out and well-written” and a “valuable contribution to the literature.” His most recent book, TOURTE (2023), was equally well received as “an excellent explanation of their (Tourte family’s) lives and activities”, “no one interested in bows should pass by this book.” 

Mr. Schaff has served as the curator and archivist at Classically Connected Inc., (formerly Si-Yo Music Society Foundation) and in 2022 was the central creator of their fine instrument database and registry. As an educator and historian, he has served on the faculties of Essex County College, Felician College, and been a guest lecturer at Oberlin College, Rutgers University, and the Shanghai Conservatory. 

In 2020 he created a series of Beethoven lectures presented by the Stamford (CT) Symphony and Ferguson Library, and his article, “Rediscovering Haydn’s Three Original Violin Sonatas,” was published in 2013 in Australia’s Stringendo Magazine. 

As a professional freelance violinist, Mr. Schaff continues to perform with numerous groups in and around New York City. He is the founder and director of the Englewood Chamber Players which seeks to present concerts and lectures in underserved communities in partnership with other nonprofit organizations, as well as provide free access to fine instruments for professional musicians.