Stefan Karl Schmid, born on February 13, 1984 in Darmstadt, Germany, is a German-Islandic modern jazz musician. He began playing saxophone at age nine and received formal training until 2002. Schmid's early career included memberships in notable ensembles such as the Jugend-Jazzorchester Rheinland-Pfalz, with whom he toured internationally from 2000 to 2004. He studied jazz saxophone and music education at the Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg-Augsburg from 2003 to 2007. Schmid's debut album exTENded was released in 2012. Throughout his career, he has collaborated with prominent musicians such as Bobby Shew and Maceo Parker, and led groups like Schmid’s Huhn and Niaque. His notable albums include Anima (2015), Pyjama (2020), and Muse (2021). In 2020, he also became a professor of jazz saxophone and ensemble at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Mannheim.
