Silke-Thora Matthies is a German pianist and academic born in 1960 in Gütersloh. She began her musical education at the Musikschule Gütersloh under Hermann Kreutz and won her first prize in the Jugend musiziert competition at age nine. Matthies studied at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold with Renate Kretschmar-Fischer and at the Juilliard School with Joseph Kalichstein. She received first prize in the Gina Bachauer Competition and awards in the Liszt/Bartók Competition. In 1988, she established a piano duo with Christian Köhn. The duo received awards at the Deutscher Musikwettbewerb in 1989 and the ARD International Music Competition in 1992. Her discography included the recording Four Hand Piano Music, Vol. 16 (2006). In 1992, Matthies was appointed professor of piano at the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg. She served as the rector of the institution from 2003 to 2007 and received the Federal Cross of Merit in 2008.
