Erich Schachtner studied with Prof. Franz Halasz at the Augsburg College of Music before joining Eliot Fisk´s masterclass at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.
His career was launched in 2002 when he played in Helsinki for the Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara. Engagements followed with the Munich Symphony Orchestra, the Leipzig Symphony Orchestra, with the Ensemble of Kemal & Metin Karaman and – last but not least – his “Blues Meets Classical“ & “Two Heads“ projects with Supertramp founder Richard Palmer-James.
He also recorded with the Second German Television Service (ZDF) and the First Austrian Television Service (ORF).
Contemporary composers have written solo works for him, he wrote the score for the Film „Bir adim ötesi….one step beyond“ for the Istanbul filmmaker Tülin Dag and also music for image films of KTM, Volkswagen and for the „Metropolis board of directors meeting“ in Guangzhou (China).
Erich Schachtner is pursuing a career as soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe….sometimes in cooperation with musical artists like for example double bass player Barre Phillips (Puget-Ville) and the bariton Robert Rice (London).
In 2012 he was part of the production of Helmut Lachenman´s „Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern“ on the German Opera Berlin and performed Rautavaara´s „Serenade of the Unicorn“ on the „Exhibition of the Berlin-Helsinki city planning Academy“ in Helsinki in December 2012.