Avi Schönfeld is a Polish pianist and composer. He was born in Lodz, Poland on 15 December 1947.

Life

Schönfeld gave his first concert in his native Poland at the age of 19 before going to Israel to become a pupil of the Bartók disciple Ilona Vincze-Kraus. After winning several national and international prizes, including one with the

Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra The Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra (Hebrew: התזמורת הסימפונית ירושלים, ''ha-Tizmoret ha-Simfonit Yerushalayim'') is a major orchestra of Israel. Since the 1980s, the JSO has been based in the Henry Crown Symphony Hall, part of ...

and first prize in the

Leo Kestenberg Leo Kestenberg (27 November 1882 – 13 January 1962) was a German-Israeli classical pianist, music educator, and cultural politician. Working for the government in Prussia from 1918, he began a large-scale reform of music education (''Kestenbe ...

competition, Schönfeld made his debut with the Israeli Radio and Television Orchestra playing

Rachmaninov Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of ...

's '' Paganini Variations''. In November 1972, at the invitation of the French government, Schönfeld undertook study with

Vlado Perlemuter Vladislas "Vlado" Perlemuter (26 May 1904 – 4 September 2002) was a Lithuanian-born French pianist and teacher. Biography Vladislas (Vlado) Perlemuter was born to a Polish Jewish family, the third of four sons, in Kovno, Russia (now Kaunas in Li ...

Yvonne Lefébure Yvonne Lefébure (29 June 1898, Ermont – 23 January 1986, Paris) was a French pianist and teacher. Born in Ermont, she studied with Alfred Cortot at the Conservatoire de Paris, taking a ''premier prix'' in piano and numerous other subjects. She ...

, Arthur Rubinstein, and

Marcel Ciampi Marcel Paul Maximin Ciampi (29 May 1891 – 2 September 1980) was a French pianist and teacher. He held the longest tenure in the history of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris and also became head of piano classes at the Y ...

in piano,

Henryk Szeryng Henryk Szeryng (usually pronounced ''HEN-r-ik SHEH-r-in-g'') (22 September 19183 March 1988) was a Polish violinist. Early years He was born in Warsaw, Poland on 22 September 1918 into a wealthy Jewish family. The surname "Szeryng" is a Poli ...

in chamber music, and

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher and conductor. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organist. From a ...

and

Alexandre Tansman Alexander Tansman ( pl, Aleksander Tansman, link=no, French: Alexandre Tansman; 12 June 1897 – 15 November 1986) was a Polish composer, pianist and conductor who became a naturalized French citizen in 1938. One of the earliest representatives of ...

in composition. After a period of teaching at the Royal Brussels Conservatory, Schönfeld was appointed to a post at the Maastricht Conservatory in the Netherlands, where he still teaches. In addition to his creative work, Schönfeld is artistic director and founder of the European Pianistic Research Institute of Maastricht (EPRIM) and artistic adviser to the Anglo Dutch Piano Platform and the Académie Pianistica of the Maastricht Municipal Theatre. He receives commissions for writing the compositions for piano competitions and serves as a jury member in said competitions.

Compositions

Among Schönfeld's compositions for piano are ''Animato'', ''Sphinx'', ''Labyrinthe'', ''Ombres and Tango-Etude'' (all published by Max Eschig/Durand), ''Agitato and Jeu'' (

Henry Lemoine Henry Lemoine (21 October 1786 – 18 May 1854) was a French music publisher, composer, and piano teacher. Life Lemoine was born in Paris, where he was a pupil of Anton Reicha, a composer and piano teacher. In 1816 he took over his father ...

), ''Légende'' (Editions Combre), and ''Sonatine Mediterranean''. He has written five piano sonatas (nr. 3: Notturno, nr. 4: Hommage a Chopin, nr. 5: C minor). Among his chamber works are a violin sonata and a Ballade for violin and piano, a cello sonata, a clarinet sonata, a suite for two pianos, and an almost finished piano concerto.

References

* http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/servlet/SirveObras/albnz/06927392599603895332268/AR-EDI-0000-00055-02.pdf * https://web.archive.org/web/20100225064240/http://www.left-hand-brofeldt.dk/Catalogue_s.htm * http://www.editionhh.co.uk/ab_as.htm
Concert program of Schönfeld's London debut with biography.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schonfeld, Avi 1947 births Living people Dutch classical pianists Israeli classical pianists Polish classical pianists Polish emigrants to Israel Academic staff of the Maastricht Academy of Music Musicians from Łódź 21st-century classical pianists