Michael Schnitzler
Michael Schnitzler ( born August 7, 1944 in Berkeley, United States) is an Austrian musician and conservationist.
Concert violinist and violin professor
Michael Schnitzler, was born in 1944 in California, the son of Austrian parents, who emigrated in 1938. His father was the actor and director Heinrich Schnitzler, his grandfather was the poet Arthur Schnitzler. In 1959 he moved with his family back to Vienna, where he studied violin at the Music Academy and already played with 15 years as a substitute with the Vienna Philharmonic. From 1967 to 1983 he was concertmaster of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, and from 1982 until his retirement in 2006 full professor of violin at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. Since 1965 he is a violinist in the Vienna Haydn Trio, with whom he toured through the whole world, made numerous recordings and has 30 years played a cycle for the Vienna Konzerthaus. Overall, Michael Schnitzler has played more than 3,000 concerts.
Nature lovers and conservationists
The great passion of Michael Schnitzler are nature tours. He trekkte in Peru, Canada and Ladakh, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and the Cotopaxi in Ecuador, took Safaris in Africa, appeared in the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean and in the Caribbean and shot through with a raft throughout the Grand Canyon. Remote travels took him to the Galapagos Islands, Antarctica, Alaska and Greenland, and in several tropical countries, where he discovered his love for the rainforests. In 1989 he bought a house at the edge of the rainforest in Golfito in Southern Costa Rica with the intention to spend his holidays. Soon after, he became aware of the destruction of the surrounding rainforests and decided to do something about it. In 1991, the Esquinas Rainforest was declared a National Park. However, since all land were privately owned, the area could certainly be described as " paper park" until it passed into the possession of the National Park Service of Costa Rica. Numerous felling authorizations were in force, and the deforestation continued unabated. Michael Schnitzler then founded the Rainforest of the Austrians with the intent to raise money for the ransom of the Esquinas rainforest. Little did he know then that his hobby into a second career would volunteer, who soon took more time than giving concerts and teaching. Michael Schnitzler is owner of the Esquinas Rainforest Lodge in Costa Rica.