At the age of 16 he went to the United States to attend the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied violin with Efrem Zimbalist, and violin and viola with Oscar Shumsky.
In between his lessons in New York, Schmidt worked intensely with violinist Geoffrey Michaels on scales, etudes and the Sonatas and Partitas of Johann Sebastian Bach – in the tradition of Efrem Zimbalist and Oscar Shumsky.
Geoffrey Chaucer | Geoffrey Rush | Geoffrey of Monmouth | Geoffrey Moull | Geoffrey Hill | Geoffrey Keezer | Geoffrey de Montbray | Lee Michaels | Geoffrey Wilkinson | Geoffrey Howe | Geoffrey Blainey | Geoffrey Robertson | Geoffrey Keating | Bret Michaels | The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. | Michaels | Geoffrey Palmer | Geoffrey Hartman | Geoffrey C. Hazard, Jr. | Al Michaels | Randy Michaels | Lorne Michaels | Jillian Michaels (personal trainer) | Jillian Michaels | Geoffrey Robinson | Geoffrey Owens | Geoffrey Layton | Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu | Geoffrey de Mandeville | Geoffrey de Luterel |