Kurt Hugo Schneider
Schneider in 2017
Born	(1988-09-07)September 7, 1988 (age 36) Baltimore,Maryland, U.S.
Alma mater	Yale University (BA)
Occupation(s)	Director, producer, singer, songwriter, composer
Years active	2007–present[1][2]
Spouse	Patty Ho ​ (m. 2021)​
Musical career
Origin	Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genres	Pop acoustic synthpop
Instruments	Piano guitar percussion vocals
Labels	Mud Hut Digital NoodleHouse Sh-K-Boom
Musical artist
YouTube information
Channel	KurtHugoSchneider
Subscribers	13.5 million[3]
Views	4.0 billion[3]
Creator Awards 100,000 subscribers 1,000,000 subscribers 10,000,000 subscribers
Last updated: 29 January 2025
Chess career
Country	United States
Peak rating	2212 (April 2009)

Kurt Hugo Schneider (born September 7, 1988),^[4] sometimes referred to by his initialsKHS, is an American video editor, producer, musician, singer and songwriter, whose primary medium isYouTubemusic videos. He has produced music videos for various YouTube musicians, such asSam Tsui.^[5][6]

Kurt Hugo Schneider was born inBaltimore to Laurie S. Auth, avisual artist, and Michael Schneider, amathematician.^[7][8] He grew up inBlue Bell, Pennsylvania, a suburb ofPhiladelphia, where he lived just a street away fromSam Tsui, whom he met while attending middle school. They both later attendedWissahickon High School.^[9] He graduated classvaledictorian.^[10]

Schneider attendedYale University, where he got his start producing videos when he worked at Yale's Digital Media Center for the Arts.^[11] He graduatedmagna cum laude in 2010 with a degree inmathematics and was inducted intoPhi Beta Kappa.^[4][12]

Schneider began collaborating withSam Tsui while they were both students at Wissahickon High School.^[13]

Schneider and Jake Bruene created the musicalweb seriesCollege Musical fall semester 2008 at Yale. Schneider composed the songs and cast the project from Yale's music community, which included Sam Tsui andAllison Williams. The first episode aired on YouTube in January 2009.^[13] They shot an independent film based upon their online musical series,College Musical: The Movie, summer of 2010 and released online it on September 3, 2014.^[14] A series of behind-the-scenes videos for the movie, filmed and narrated by Nick Uhas, has been released on YouTube.^[15]

He produced videos of Tsui singingcovers andmedleys.

They garnered wide media attention with a video of aMichael Jackson medley.^[5] This video remains the 9th most viewed (more than 34 million) on Schneider'sYouTube channelKurtHugoSchneider.^[16] This medley is one of several in which Schneider, usingvideo editing, creates the illusion of a one-man a cappella choir, with Tsui coveringlead andbacking vocals, playing multiple versions of himself.^[5][17] Their medley videos have been described byTime as a combination ofGlee andAttack of the Clones.^[6] The viral videos led to a few appearances on national television, includingThe Oprah Winfrey Show andThe Ellen DeGeneres Show.^{[18][19][20][21]} On February 3, 2011, Schneider's video of Tsui coveringHold It Against Me, in which Tsui sang and played the piano with Schneider on percussion, was featured onBritney Spears' official website.^[22][23]

The popularity of their videos has encouraged the duo to branch out to other projects.^[13] Since September 2010, Schneider and Tsui have also begun to release videos of original songs^[4][24] and in May 2013,Sam Tsui's debut original album,Make It Up, was released.^[25]

Schneider has also made music videos in collaboration with other artists. Popular videos include aMiley Cyrus medley sung byChristina Grimmie,^[26] aduet between Tsui and Grimmie singingJust a Dream (the most viewed video on 'KurtHugoSchneider', with over two hundred million views),^[27] and aStarcraft-themed parody video, withHusky, of "Baby".^[28] He has also parodied the infamous "Friday" by Rebecca Black with his variation being known as "Void Rays". He has collaborated withTiffany Alvord on aTaylor Swift medley^[29] andMatisse on a medley ofRihanna songs.^[30] Some of his earlier videos include collaborations with now-actressAllison Williams. He has also collaborated withMax Schneider (no relation) on a number of occasions: for example he directed aBruno Mars medley for Schneider andVictoria Justice, a Maroon 5 medley and a Christmas medley.^[31] Schneider also co-wrote 'Standing In China' with Schneider forCody Simpson's albumParadise. Schneider was also an associate producer for a musical admissions video for Yale, which features a cast consisting ofTsui and fellow Yale students.^[13][32]

He has also performed a cover of "Beauty and the Beat" by Justin Bieber withAlex Goot andChrissy Costanza fromAgainst the Current^[33] as well as a cover of "Counting Stars" by OneRepublic,^[34] a cover of "Can't Hold Us" byMacklemore and Ryan Lewis,^[35] and a cover of "Heart Attack" by Demi Lovato with Halocene.^[36]

In 2013, Schneider andCoca-Cola created music videos featuring creative covers of two 2011 singles:Calvin Harris' "Feel So Close" andOf Monsters and Men's "Little Talks" for a campaign called "The Sounds of AHH". Commercial edits of the singles premiered on the inaugural episode ofseason 13 ofAmerican Idol on January 14, 2014, onFOX.

In the two new versions, recreated by Schneider, he is shown making the track playing only Coca-Cola bottles, glasses and cans. In addition, "Feels So Close" features the vocals ofSam Tsui whereas on the track "Little Talks", he is accompanied musically by beatboxing cellistKevin Olusola.^[37]

Schneider played for Yale's chess team.^[10] He currently holds aUSCF Elo rating of 2235, holding the title ofmaster,^[38] and has held a blindfoldedsimultaneous exhibition for the comedy seriesThe Try Guys.^[39] He has also featured at theCES 2014 in the HRM Chess Tournament, hosted byNordic Semiconductor inLas Vegas, while playing againstMagnus Carlsen.^[40]

In February 2020, Schneider created asudoku-based puzzle forCracking the Cryptic.^[41]In March 2025, Schneider solved asudoku-based puzzle with Cracking the Cryptic.^[42]

He is of German and Austrian descent on his father's side.^[43] Schneider has an older sister who is a classical pianist.^[44]

In August 2019 Schneider got engaged to his girlfriend of 5 years, Patty Ho.^[45] They were married in September 2021.^[46]

The following is a list of singles released digitally toiTunes Store and recorded with artists other thanSam Tsui.

Covers

This list covers only music videos made for solo works, Sam Tsui originals and collaborations with other artists not listed in the discography for Sam Tsui.

• Kurt Hugo Schneider's channel onYouTube

• 1988 births
• American chess players
• American people of Austrian descent
• American people of German descent
• Record producers from Pennsylvania
• Living people
• Musicians from Baltimore
• Musicians from Pennsylvania
• People from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
• Yale University alumni
• American male pianists
• 21st-century American pianists
• 21st-century American male musicians
• American music YouTubers
• Shorty Award winners
• YouTubers from Baltimore
• YouTubers from Pennsylvania

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