He received a Composers' Citation from The American Accordionists' Association in honor of his composition, "The Spring Street Ritual", which was the test piece for the 1979 Coupe Mondiale World Competition. He received The Confédération internationale des accordéonistes Merit Award for his contributions as a composer, performer and philosopher on the international accordion scene. He received a Merit Award from the American Accordionists' Association for his contributions spanning fifty years plus the "Accordionist of the Year" Award in 1988. He received the Keyboard magazine readers' poll award in 1992 as "Best Accordionist". He has served and continues to serve as Artist in Residence of The American Accordionist's where he also serves as Distinguished Lecturer in Residence and member of the Governing Board. National Public Radio called Schimmel the world's greatest accordionist. New Yorker Magazine called him Gotham's Happy Warrior of the Accordion. Accordion Star Illustrated Magazine called him the World's most important accordionist and inducted him into the American Accordion Hall of fame. Schimmel won the Stereo Review Album of the year award, and was nominated for a Grammy award.