David Ashkenazi was a Russian pianist

Pianist

A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

, concertmaster

Concertmaster

The concertmaster/mistress is the spalla or leader, of the first violin section of an orchestra. In the UK, the term commonly used is leader...

 and composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

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Ashkenazi was born on 25 December 1915 in Nizhny Novgorod

Nizhny Novgorod

Nizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened to Nizhny, is, with the population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Yekaterinburg...

. He studied piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

 at the local music college and in the Moscow Conservatory

Moscow Conservatory

The Moscow Conservatory is a higher musical education institution in Moscow, and the second oldest conservatory in Russia after St. Petersburg Conservatory. Along with the St...

. He was a concertmaster for a number of celebrated Soviet pop singers, including Isabella Yuryeva, Klavdiya Shulzhenko

Klavdiya Shulzhenko

Klavdiya Ivanovna Shulzhenko was a popular female singer of the Soviet Union.- Professional biography :Shulzhenko started singing with jazz and pop bands in the late 1920s. She rose to fame in the late 1930s with her version of Sebastian Yradier's La Paloma...

, Lyudmila Zykina

Lyudmila Zykina

Lyudmila Georgievna Zykina was a national folk singer of Russia.She was born in Moscow and joined the Pyatnitsky Choir in 1947. Her surname is derived from the Russian word for "loud" . Beginning in 1960 she performed solo...

, Marina Gordon

Marina Gordon

Marina Gordon – singer,coloratura soprano.She has been known as a performer of popular songs written to lyrics by contemporaneous authors in Yiddish, Russian and in the USSR and in the USA.-Life and career:...

, Vadim Kozin

Vadim Kozin

Vadim Kozin was a Russian tenor.Vadim Alexeych Kozin was born the son of a merchant in Saint Petersburg to Alexei Gavrilovich Kozin and Vera Ilinskaya in 1903. His mother was a gypsy and often sang in the local gypsy choir...

, Mark Bernes

Mark Bernes

Mark Naumovich Bernes was a Soviet actor and singer of Jewish ancestry , who performed some of the most poignant songs to come out of the World War II, including Tyomnaya noch and Zhuravli...

, Iosif Kobzon and others.

He was awarded the title of People's Artist of Russia in 1996.

In 1964 he has acted with violinist Naum Latunsky in a bright episode of the film "The Garnet Bracelet" under famous A.Kuprin's story. He has written a romance on Jacob Polonsky's verses "When in a separation presentiment" which are in repertoire of many romance’s singers.

David Ashkenazi was the father of the famous pianist and conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy

Vladimir Ashkenazy

Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy is a Russian-Icelandic conductor and pianist. Since 1972 he has been a citizen of Iceland, his wife Þórunn's country of birth. Since 1978, because of his many obligations in Europe, he and his family have resided in Meggen, near Lucerne in Switzerland...

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He died on 19 February 1997 in Moscow, Russia.