Axel Schmidt (born 19 August 1940) is a German cor anglais player and oboist.
Born in Zwickau, Schmidt learned to play the oboe from Alfred Gleißberg, the solo oboist of the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and Peter Fischer at the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.
From 1962 to 1964, Schmidt worked with the . In 1964, he became solo English horn player with the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra under the conduct of Herbert Kegel. He was interpreter of early music in the Pro Arte Antiqua Lipsienis, the Telemann-Ensemble and the Capella Fidicinia under the direction of the musicologist Hans Grüß. In 1970, he became a member of the Gruppe Neue Musik Hanns Eisler and the Leipziger Consort, who devoted themselves to Neue Musik. In 1992, he founded the Trio PianOvo.
He teaches English horn and since 1976 oboe; in 1993 he became professor at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt, Weimar. There he acted as dean and Prorector. His students include Michael Goldammer, Walter Klingner, Sebastian Röthig and Gunter Sieberth. He is also a guest lecturer in the Netherlands, Poland, Czech Republic, Finland and Great Britain.