Emanuel Ax
Encyclopedia
Emanuel Ax is a Grammy
-winning American
classical pianist. He is currently a teacher on the faculty of the Juilliard School
. He is considered one of the best known concert pianists of the 21st century.
, USSR (currently in Ukraine
) to Joachim and Hellen Ax, both Nazi concentration camp survivors. Ax began to study piano at the age of six; his father was his first piano teacher. When he was eight the family moved to Warsaw
, Poland
(where he studied piano playing at Miodowa
school) and then two years later to Winnipeg
, Canada
where he continued to study music, including as a member of The Junior Musical Club of Winnipeg. In 1961 the family moved to New York City
and Ax continued his studies at the Juilliard School
under Mieczysław Munz. In 1970 he received his B.A. in French
at Columbia University
and became an American citizen. In 1973 he won the Young Concert Artists International Auditions.
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 more traditional composers such as Haydn
, Mozart
, Beethoven
, and Chopin
.
Ax regularly performs duo recitals with cellist Yo-Yo Ma
and played quartets with Ma and violinists Isaac Stern
and Jaime Laredo
. Before the quartet had to disband in 2001 due to the death of Stern, they recorded works for Sony
by Brahms
, Fauré
, Beethoven, Schumann
and Mozart. Ax is also a featured guest artist in a documentary film about the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
and Peter Oundjian, Five Days in September; the Rebirth of an Orchestra.
He is a recipient of Yale University
's Sanford Medal and also holds an honorary doctorate of music from Yale awarded in May 2007.
with his wife, pianist Yoko Nozaki
, and has two children, Joey and Sarah.
Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance
:
Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without orchestra)
:
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
-winning American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
classical pianist. He is currently a teacher on the faculty of the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
. He is considered one of the best known concert pianists of the 21st century.
Early life
Ax was born in LvivLviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
, USSR (currently in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
) to Joachim and Hellen Ax, both Nazi concentration camp survivors. Ax began to study piano at the age of six; his father was his first piano teacher. When he was eight the family moved to Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
(where he studied piano playing at Miodowa
Miodowa
Miodowa is a street in Warsaw's Old Town. More precisely, it links the Freta Street in the New Town, with the Krasiński Square. It is also a street in the Kazimierz district in Kraków.-History:...
school) and then two years later to Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
where he continued to study music, including as a member of The Junior Musical Club of Winnipeg. In 1961 the family moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Ax continued his studies at the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
under Mieczysław Munz. In 1970 he received his B.A. in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
and became an American citizen. In 1973 he won the Young Concert Artists International Auditions.
Musical style
Ax is a particular supporter of contemporary composers and has given three world premieres in the last few seasons; Century RollsCentury Rolls
Century Rolls is a piano concerto by the American composer John Adams. Commissioned by Emanuel Ax, the work dates from 1997. Ax was the soloist in the concerto's premiere on September 25, 1997 in Cleveland, Ohio, with Christoph von Dohnányi conducting The Cleveland Orchestra...
by John Adams, Seeing by Christopher Rouse and Red Silk Dance by Bright Sheng
Bright Sheng
Bright Sheng is a Chinese-American composer, conductor, and pianist. He has lived in the United States since 1982 and is on faculty at the University of Michigan. In 1999, the White House commissioned Sheng to compose a piece to honor the Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji at a state dinner hosted by...
. He also performs works by such diverse figures as Sir Michael Tippett
Michael Tippett
Sir Michael Kemp Tippett OM CH CBE was an English composer.In his long career he produced a large body of work, including five operas, three large-scale choral works, four symphonies, five string quartets, four piano sonatas, concertos and concertante works, song cycles and incidental music...
, Hans Werner Henze
Hans Werner Henze
Hans Werner Henze is a German composer of prodigious output best known for "his consistent cultivation of music for the theatre throughout his life"...
, Joseph Schwantner
Joseph Schwantner
Joseph C. Schwantner is a Pulitzer Prize winning American composer and educator and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He was awarded the 1970 Charles Ives Prize....
and Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...
, as well as more traditional composers such as Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
, Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
, Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
, and Chopin
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
.
Ax regularly performs duo recitals with cellist Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...
and played quartets with Ma and violinists Isaac Stern
Isaac Stern
Isaac Stern was a Ukrainian-born violinist. He was renowned for his recordings and for discovering new musical talent.-Biography:Isaac Stern was born into a Jewish family in Kremenets, Ukraine. He was fourteen months old when his family moved to San Francisco...
and Jaime Laredo
Jaime Laredo
Jaime Laredo is a violinist and conductor. Currently the conductor and Music Director of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, he began his musical career when he was five years old. In 1948 he came to North America and took lessons from Antonio DeGrass...
. Before the quartet had to disband in 2001 due to the death of Stern, they recorded works for Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
by Brahms
Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
, Fauré
Gabriel Fauré
Gabriel Urbain Fauré was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th century composers...
, Beethoven, Schumann
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
and Mozart. Ax is also a featured guest artist in a documentary film about the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Toronto Symphony Orchestra
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario.-History:The TSO was founded in 1922 as the New Symphony Orchestra, and gave its first concert at Massey Hall in April 1923. The orchestra changed its name to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 1927. The TSO...
and Peter Oundjian, Five Days in September; the Rebirth of an Orchestra.
He is a recipient of Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
's Sanford Medal and also holds an honorary doctorate of music from Yale awarded in May 2007.
Personal life
Ax lives in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
with his wife, pianist Yoko Nozaki
Yoko Nozaki
Yoko Nozaki is a pianist and musician, specializing in chamber music, and the wife of Grammy Award-winning pianist Emanuel Ax.Nozaki was born in Tokyo, Japan and studied at the Toho School of Music. At age 12, she and her family moved to the United States. She entered The Juilliard School in New...
, and has two children, Joey and Sarah.
Awards and recognitions
- 1974 - Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Tel AvivTel AvivTel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
- 1979 - Avery Fisher PrizeAvery Fisher PrizeThe Avery Fisher Prize is an award given to American musicians for outstanding achievement in classical music. Founded by philanthropist Avery Fisher in 1974, it is regarded as one of the most significant awards for American instrumentalists. The award is decided by members of the Avery Fisher...
in New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east... - 2007 - Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesAmerican Academy of Arts and SciencesThe American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
- Award of Excellence, The International Center in New York
Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance
Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance has been awarded since 1959. The award has had several minor name changes:*From 1959 to 1960 the award was known as Best Classical Performance - Chamber Music ...
:
- Emanuel Ax & Yo-Yo Ma for BrahmsJohannes BrahmsJohannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
: Cello and Piano Sonatas in E Minor and F (1986Grammy Awards of 1986The 28th Grammy Awards were held on February 25, 1986. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year, 1985.- Award winners :*Record of the Year**Quincy Jones for "We Are the World" performed by USA for Africa...
) - Emanuel Ax & Yo-Yo Ma for BeethovenLudwig van BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
: Cello and Piano Sonata No. 4 in C & Variations (1987Grammy Awards of 1987The 29th Grammy Awards were held in 1987. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year.-Award winners:*Record of the Year**Russ Titelman , Steve Winwood for "Higher Love"*Album of the Year...
) - Emanuel Ax, Jaime Laredo, Yo-Yo Ma & Isaac Stern for Brahms: Piano (Op. 25 and 26) (1992Grammy Awards of 1992The 34th Grammy Awards were held on February 26, 1992. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year . Natalie Cole was the big winner winning three awards including Album of the Year.-Award winners:*Record of the Year...
) - Emanuel Ax & Yo-Yo Ma for Brahms: Sonatas for Cello & Piano (1993Grammy Awards of 1993The 35th Grammy Awards were held in 1993. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Eric Clapton was the night's big winner, winning 6 awards including Album of the Year.-Award winners:*Record of the Year...
) - Emanuel Ax, Yo-Yo Ma & Richard StoltzmanRichard StoltzmanRichard Stoltzman is an American clarinetist. Born Richard Leslie Stoltzman in Omaha, Nebraska, he spent his early years in San Francisco, California and Cincinnati, Ohio, graduating from Woodward High School in 1960. Today, Stoltzman is part of the faculty list at the New England Conservatory...
for Brahms/Beethoven/MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
: Clarinet Trios (1996Grammy Awards of 1996The 38th Grammy Awards were held on February 28, 1996. The awards recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Alanis Morissette was the night's big winner, scoring four trophies, including Album of the Year.-Award winners:...
)
Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without orchestra)
Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without orchestra)
The Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance was awarded from 1959 to 2011. From 1967 to 1971 and in 1987 the award was combined with the award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance and awarded as the Grammy Award for Best Classical Performance - Instrumental Soloist or...
:
- Emanuel Ax for HaydnJoseph HaydnFranz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
: Piano Sonatas, Nos. 32, 47, 53, 59 (1995Grammy Awards of 1995The 37th Grammy Awards were presented March 1, 1995. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year.-Award winners:*Record of the Year**Bill Bottrell & Sheryl Crow for "All I Wanna Do"*Album of the Year...
) - Emanuel Ax for Haydn: Piano Sonatas Nos. 29, 31, 34, 35 & 49 (2004Grammy Awards of 2004The 46th Grammy Awards were held on the February 8, 2004. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. The big winners were Outkast, who won three awards including Album of the Year & Beyoncé Knowles, who won 5 Awards...
)