Emanuel Ax

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Emanuel Ax (born June 8, 1949) is a Ukranian-born Jewish-American pianist.

Acclaimed for his poetic lyricism and brilliant technique, pianist Emanuel Ax is one of today's best known and most highly regarded musicians. He first captured public attention in 1974 when, aged 25, he won the first Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Tel Aviv. Five years later he took the coveted Avery Fisher Prize in New York. An RCA recording contract followed, and many of his recordings won top honours.In 1987 Ax became an exclusive Sony Classical artist. Recordings on this label include the two Liszt Concertos paired with the Schoenberg Concerto, two discs of solo Brahms, tangos by Piazzolla and Haydn Piano Sonatas (part of an ongoing Haydn cycle) for which he won a Grammy award.Other discs that have recently been released are the Brahms Piano Concerto No 2 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Bernard Haitink and both Chopin Piano Concertos with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Sir Charles Mackerras. Emanuel Ax visits Europe regularly and during the 2000/01 season his engagements include concerts with the Stockholm and Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestras as well as solo and chamber recitals in London. Next summer he will perform with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Bernard Haitink. Future projects include a series of concerts with the Tonhalle Orchestra and Zinman and a weekend of concerts at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

During 2000 Emanuel Ax has performed the Schoenberg Concerto on an extensive tour with the London Symphony Orchestra and Pierre Boulez, playing in Brussels, Salzburg, Lucerne and Edinburgh. Other recent European appearances have included the DSO Berlin, Suisse Romande, Orchestre National de France, a European tour with the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington under Leonard Slatkin and recitals in Milan, Cologne and Birmingham. Having premiered John Adams' new concerto Century Rolls with the Cleveland Orchestra in September 1997, Emmanuel Ax performed it during 1998 with the Royal Concertgebouw, Gothenburg and London Symphony Orchestras.

Emanuel Ax is in demand all over the United States, both in recital and with orchestra, regularly performing in New York, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia and Saint Louis. In addition, he makes regular festival appearances at Aspen, Blossom, Hollywood Bowl, Mainly Mozart, Ravinia and Tanglewood. Emanuel Ax is a particular supporter of 20th century composers and has given three world premieres in the last few seasons; Century Rolls by John Adams, Seeing by Christopher Rouse and Red Silk Dance by Bright Sheng. He also performs works by such diverse figures as Sir Michael Tippett, Hans Werner Henze, Joseph Schwantner and Paul Hindemith. Devoted to chamber music literature, Emanuel Ax regularly performs duo recitals with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, their recordings together have earned three Grammy Awards. He also received a Grammy award for his Brahms Trio recording with Ma and Richard Stolzman. Ax regularly plays quartets with Isaac Stern, Jaime Laredo and Yo-Yo Ma and for Sony they have recorded works by Brahms, Faure, Beethoven, Schumann and Mozart.

Emanuel Ax was born in Lvov (Poland) and began to study the piano at the age of six in Warsaw. When the family moved to North America in 1961 he continued his studies at the Juilliard School under Mieczylaw Munz. He lives in New York with his wife, the pianist Yoko Nazaki, and their two children.

1974 - Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Tel Aviv
1979 - Avery Fisher Prize in New York

Ax is a particular supporter of 20th-century composers and has given three world premieres in the last few seasons; Century Rolls by John Adams, Seeing by Christopher Rouse and Red Silk Dance by Bright Sheng. He also performs works by such diverse figures as Sir Michael Tippett, Hans Werner Henze, Joseph Schwantner and Paul Hindemith, as well as older composers such as Beethoven and Mozart. Ax regularly performs duo recitals with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and played quartets with Isaac Stern, Jaime Laredo and Yo-Yo Ma. For Sony, though the quartet had to disband in 2001 when Stern died, they have recorded works by Brahms, Fauré, Beethoven, Schumann and Mozart. He lives in New York City with his wife, pianist Yoko Nozaki, and has two children, Joseph and Sarah.

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Awards and Recognitions

Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance:

Emanuel Ax & Yo-Yo Ma for Brahms: Cello and Piano Sonatas in E Minor and F (1986)
Emanuel Ax & Yo-Yo Ma for Beethoven: Cello and Piano Sonata No. 4 in C & Variations (1987)
Emanuel Ax, Jaime Laredo, Yo-Yo Ma & Isaac Stern for Brahms: Piano Quartets (Op. 25 and 26) (1992)
Emanuel Ax & Yo-Yo Ma for Brahms: Sonatas for Cello & Piano (1993)
Emanuel Ax, Yo-Yo Ma & Richard Stoltzman for Brahms/Beethoven/Mozart: Clarinet Trios (1996)