During 1985-86, Mr. Schnass appeared on stage as a mime in Rimski-Korsakow’s The Golden Cockerel at the opera in Nancy, France, staged in the style of the Japanese Kabuki theatre; he took a mask workshop by Ariane Mnouchkine at the Théâtre du Soleil; and he performed the role of Gollum in a theatrical adaptation of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings by Rodolphe Leiserson. However, long after he left behind the art of the mime, the techniques he learned served him well when 15 years later he was called upon to give a convincing portrayal of a brain operated Major in a film by Bertrand Tavernier or when choreographing the movements of a sergeant when working with Norman Jewison.

From 1986 to 1989 Jörg Schnass concentrated on the challenge of the theater (how to create a character’s gestures, expressions and modes of speaking, while not compromising naturalness) and it was during this period that he learned these important skills. As a member of Aneta Lastik’s compagnie du Réverbère he played many different characters and had the opportunity to work in the Stanislawski tradition with various Polish stage directors and actors such as, Jerzy Jarocki, Halina Mikolajska, Maciej Wojtyszko and Wojtek Adamczyk. It was with this repertoire company that Mr. Schnass acquired the skills necessary for a career as an actor.

In 1988 yet another Polish artist, Agnieszka Holland, paved the way for Jörg Schnass’ entry into cinema. She invited him to create the role of Bannführer Pfeiffer in her film Europa Europa. During the last fifteen years he has worked with numerous French, Canadian and American film directors, each taking advantage of the multiple aspects of Schnass’ talent. Among these directors are included, René Allio, Jacques Doillon, Claude Grinberg, Michel Wyn, Eric Rohmer, Norman Jewison and Jonathan Demme.

In 1996 Jörg Schnass met Cornelius L. Reid in New York, a man who has spent his life researching the teaching practices of voice building in the Bel Canto tradition. After the first week Mr. Schnass discovered his hidden vocal potential and the actor/mime decided to continue his training with singing lessons. During the next seven years he takes a hiatus from his stage and film work and spends more than fifty weeks in New York to cultivate his bass voice. He thus shapes the third pillar of his art: singing.
The actor-singer’s repertoire currently comprises songs and arias by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Britten, Bizet, Duparc, Fauré, Händel, Karlowicz, Ropartz, Mahler, Meyerbeer, Mozart, Mussorgsky, Moniuszko, R. Strauss, Schumann, Schubert, Szeluto, Verdi, Wagner, Webern, and Wolf.

Throughout his career Jörg Schnass has lent his speaking voice to over 700 institutional, pedagogical and advertising films (translating many of them himself from English or French into German). This, together with similar work done by approximately 15 German colleagues in Paris, has made significant contribution to the alliance between Germany and France.

In addition to Jörg Schnass’ many involvements, he is committed to promoting throughout Europe Cornelius Reid’s theories concerning functional voice training. In this regard, Mr. Schnass teaches singing in Paris, writes articles and essays for publication and gives conferences regarding vocal pedagogy and the work of Cornelius Reid, the most recent being in September of 2003 during the festival Wratislavia Cantans 2003 in Wroclaw, Poland.