Emanuel "Manny" Ax (born 8 June 1949) is a

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

-winning American classical pianist. He is a teacher in the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

Early life

Ax was born to a Polish-Jewish family in

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, (in what was then the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

) to Joachim and Hellen Ax. Both parents were

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

survivors. Ax began to study piano at the age of six; his father was his first piano teacher. When he was seven the family moved to

Warsaw, Poland Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-cen ...

(where he studied piano playing at

Miodowa Miodowa (lit. ''Honey Street'') is a street in Warsaw's Old Town. More precisely, it links the Krakowskie (Cracow Suburb) Street in with Krasiński Square. It is also the name of a street in the Kazimierz district in Kraków. History In the 16 ...

school) and then two years later to

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, 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

under

Mieczysław Munz Mieczysław Munz (October 31, 1900, Kraków – August 25, 1976) was a Polish-American pianist. Munz trained in Vienna and Berlin, with Ferruccio Busoni. He was a teacher of Emanuel Ax, Walter Hautzig, David Oei, Ann Schein, Virginia Rein ...

. In 1970 he received his B.A. in French at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

and became an American citizen. The same year, he received an honorable mention at the

VIII International Chopin Piano Competition 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of the ...

in Warsaw. In 1973 he won the

Young Concert Artists International Auditions Young Concert Artists is a New York City-based non-profit organization dedicated to discovering and promoting the careers of talented young classical musicians from all over the world. The competition, founded in 1961, allows artists from all over ...

Musical style

Ax is a particular supporter of contemporary composers and has given three world premieres in the last few seasons; Century Rolls by

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...

, ''Seeing'' by Christopher Rouse and ''Red Silk Dance'' by

Bright Sheng Bright Sheng ( Chinese: 盛宗亮 pinyin: ''Shèng Zōngliàng''; born December 6, 1955) is a Chinese-born American composer, pianist and conductor. Sheng has earned many honors for his music and compositions, including a MacArthur Fellowship in ...

. He also performs works by such diverse figures as

Michael Tippett Sir Michael Kemp Tippett (2 January 1905 – 8 January 1998) was an English composer who rose to prominence during and immediately after the Second World War. In his lifetime he was sometimes ranked with his contemporary Benjamin Britten ...

Hans Werner Henze Hans Werner Henze (1 July 1926 – 27 October 2012) was a German composer. His large oeuvre of works is extremely varied in style, having been influenced by serialism, atonality, Stravinsky, Italian music, Arabic music and jazz, as well as t ...

Joseph Schwantner Joseph Clyde Schwantner (born March 22, 1943, Chicago, Illinois) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer, educator and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 2002. He was awarded the 1970 Charles Ives Prize. Schwantner ...

and

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ''Ne ...

, as well as more traditional composers such as

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

, and Chopin. Ax has been the main duo recital partner of cellist

Yo-Yo Ma Yo-Yo Ma (''Chinese'': 馬友友 ''Ma Yo Yo''; born October 7, 1955) is an American cellist. Born in Paris to Chinese parents and educated in New York City, he was a child prodigy, performing from the age of four and a half. He graduated from ...

since August 3, 1973 when the pair performed its first public recital at the

Marlboro Music School and Festival The Marlboro Music School and Festival is a retreat for advanced classical training and musicianship held for seven weeks each summer in Marlboro, Vermont, in the United States. Public performances are held each weekend while the school is in ses ...

. They have recorded much of the cello/piano repertoire together. Ax also played quartets briefly with Ma and violinists

Isaac Stern Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist. Born in Poland, Stern came to the US when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union and China, and ...

and

Jaime Laredo Jaime Laredo (born June 7, 1941) is a violinist and Conducting, conductor. He was the conductor and Music Director of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, and he began his musical career when he was five years old. Laredo was born in Cochabamba, Boliv ...

. Before the quartet disbanded in 2001 due to the death of Stern, they recorded works for

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...

, Fauré, Beethoven,

Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

and Mozart. Ax is also a featured guest artist in a documentary film about the

Toronto Symphony Orchestra The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1906, the TSO gave regular concerts at Massey Hall until 1982, and since then has performed at Roy Thomson Hall. The TSO also manages the Toronto ...

and

Peter Oundjian Peter Oundjian (born 21 December 1955) is a Canadian-American violinist and conductor. Early life Born in Toronto, Ontario, as the youngest of five children from an Armenian father and English mother, Oundjian also claims Scottish ancestry throug ...

, ''Five Days in September; the Rebirth of an Orchestra''. In 1997, Ax was the music director of the

Ojai Music Festival The Ojai Music Festival is an annual classical music festival in the United States. Held in Ojai, California (75 miles northwest of Los Angeles), for four days every June, the festival presents music, symposia, and educational programs emphasizi ...

alongside the conductor

Daniel Harding Daniel John Harding (born 31 August 1975) is a British conductor. Biography Harding was born in Oxford. He studied trumpet at Chetham's School of Music and was a member of the National Youth Orchestra at age 13. At age 17, Harding assembled ...

. He holds honorary doctorates of music from Yale University (awarded in May 2007) and Columbia University. He is a recipient of

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

's Sanford Medal.

Personal life

Ax lives in New York City with his wife, pianist

Yoko Nozaki Yoko Nozaki (born 1948) is a pianist and musician specializing in chamber music. She is married to the Grammy Award-winning pianist Emanuel Ax. Background and career Nozaki was born in Tokyo, Japan and studied at the Toho Gakuen School of Music. A ...

, and has two children. He converses in fluent Polish with his family at home. Ax co-constructed the April 19, 2017

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

Crossword Puzzle and is one of the ambassadors to Music Traveler, together with

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo ...

Hans Zimmer Hans Florian Zimmer (; born 12 September 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Academy Awards, Oscars and four Grammy Awards, Grammys, and has been nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmys and a Tony Awar ...

John Malkovich John Malkovich (born December 9, 1953) is an American actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Screen Actors Guild Aw ...

Sean Lennon is an American–British musician, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and half-brother to Julian Lennon. Over the course of his career, he has been a member of the bands Cibo Matto, The G ...

, and

Adrien Brody Adrien Nicholas Brody (born April 14, 1973) is an American actor. He received widespread recognition and acclaim after starring as Władysław Szpilman in Roman Polanski's '' The Pianist'' (2002), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Acto ...

Discography

Partial Discography 1981: *Beethoven: ''Complete Sonatas for Cello and Piano, Vol. 1'' (with

) 1984: *Beethoven: ''Complete Sonatas for Cello and Piano, Vol. 2'' (with

) 1985: *Brahms: ''Sonatas for Cello and Piano'' (with

) 1986: *Beethoven: ''Complete Sonatas for Cello and Piano, Vol. 3'' (with

) 1988: *Schumann: ''Cello Concerto , Fantasiestücke, Op. 73 , Adagio and Allegro, Op. 70 , Fünf Stücke im Volkston, Op. 102'' (with

) *Dvořák: ''Piano Trios'' (with

and Young Uck Kim) *Shostakovich: ''Piano Trio , Cello Sonata'' (with

) 1989: *Strauss and Britten: ''Cello Sonatas'' (with

) 1990: *Brahms: ''The Piano Quartets'' (with

, and

) 1991: *Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff: ''Cello Sonatas'' (with

) 1992: *Brahms: 'Sonatas for Cello and Piano'' (with

) 1993: *Faure: ''Piano Quartets'' (with

, and

) 1994: *'' Chopin: Chamber Music'' (tracks 1-9, with

(tracks 1-9),

Pamela Frank Pamela Frank (born June 20, 1967) is an American violinist, with an active international career across a varied range of performing activity. Her musicianship was recognized in 1999 with the Avery Fisher Prize, one of the highest honors given t ...

(tracks 1-4), and Ewa Osinska (track 10)) *'' Beethoven, Schumann: Piano Quartets'' (with

, and

) 1995: *'' Brahms, Beethoven, Mozart: Clarinet Trios'' (with

and

Richard Stoltzman Richard Leslie Stoltzman (born July 12, 1942) is an American clarinetist. Born 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 ...

) 1996: * Lieberson: ''King Gesar''; Corigliano: ''Phantasmagoria'' (with

(all tracks), tracks 1-7:

Omar Ebrahim Omar Ebrahim (born 6 September 1956 in Greasbrough, Rotherham, South Yorkshire) is an English baritone vocalist and actor. He specializes in the performance of contemporary classical music. He studied voice at the Guildhall School of Music and Dr ...

Peter Serkin Peter Adolf Serkin (July 24, 1947 – February 1, 2020) was an American classical pianist. He won the Grammy Award for Most Promising New Classical Recording Artist in 1966, and he performed globally, known for not only "technically pristine" pl ...

, Andras Adorjan, Deborah Marshall, William Purvis, David Taylor, Stefan Huge, and

Peter Lieberson Peter Goddard Lieberson (25 October 1946 – 23 April 2011) was an American composer of contemporary classical music. His song cycles include two finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Music: '' Rilke Songs'' and ''Neruda Songs''; the latter won t ...

) *

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

: ''

Trout Quintet The ''Trout Quintet'' (''Forellenquintett'') is the popular name for the Piano Quintet in A major, D. 667, by Franz Schubert. The piano quintet was composed in 1819, when he was 22 years old; it was not published, however, until 1829, a year af ...

''; ''

Arpeggione Sonata The Sonata for Arpeggione and Piano in A minor, D. 821, was written by Franz Schubert in Vienna in November 1824. The sonata is the only substantial composition for the arpeggione (which was essentially a bowed guitar) extant today. The sonata wa ...

'' (with

(tracks 1-8),

(tracks 1-5), Rebecca Young (tracks 1-5),

Edgar Meyer Edgar Meyer (born November 24, 1960) is an American bassist and composer. His styles include classical, bluegrass, newgrass, and jazz. He has won five Grammy Awards and been nominated seven times. Meyer is a member of the Telluride Bluegrass ...

(tracks 1-5), and

Barbara Bonney Barbara Bonney (born April 14, 1956) is an American soprano. She is associated with lyric soprano roles in operas by Mozart and Richard Strauss as well as lieder performances. Early life Bonney was born in Montclair, New Jersey. As a child she pr ...

(track 9)) 1997: *'' Mozart: The Piano Quartets'' (with

, and

) 1999: *''Dvořák: Piano Quartet No.2 , Brahms: Sonata for Piano and Cello in D major, op. 78'' (with

(tracks 1-4), and

(tracks 1-4)) 2010: *''Mendelssohn: Piano Trios and Songs without Words , Beethoven Ghost Piano Trio'' (with

Itzhak Perlman Itzhak Perlman ( he, יצחק פרלמן; born August 31, 1945) is an Israeli-American violinist widely considered one of the greatest violinists in the world. Perlman has performed worldwide and throughout the United States, in venues that hav ...

(tracks 1-8),

(track 14))

Awards and recognitions

* 1972 – Seventh Prize,

Queen Elisabeth Competition The Queen Elisabeth Competition ( nl, Koningin Elisabethwedstrijd, french: Concours musical international Reine Élisabeth) is an international competition for career-starting musicians held in Brussels. The competition is named after Queen ...

in Brussels. * 1974 –

Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition The Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition is an international piano competition specializing in the music championed by Arthur Rubinstein. The competition has been held every three years in Tel Aviv, Israel since 1974. History T ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

* 1979 –

Avery Fisher Prize The 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. ...

in New York City * 2007 – Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

*2009 – Member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

* 2013 –

Echo Klassik The Echo Klassik, often stylized as ECHO Klassik, was Germany's major classical music award in 22 categories. The award, presented by the , was held annually, usually in October or September, separate from its parent award, the Echo Music Prize E ...

Award for Solo Recording of the Year (19th century music/Piano) for his ''Variations'' recording of works by Beethoven, Haydn and Schumann. * Award of Excellence, The International Center in New York

Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance The Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance was awarded from 1959 to 2011. The award was discontinued in 2012 in a major overhaul of Grammy categories; since 2012, recordings in this category have fallen under the Best Small Ensemble Perfor ...

: *Emanuel Ax and

for ''

: Cello and Piano Sonatas in E Minor and F'' (

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

) *Emanuel Ax and Yo-Yo Ma for ''

: Cello and Piano Sonata No. 4 in C & Variations'' (

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

) *Emanuel Ax,

, Yo-Yo Ma and

for ''Brahms: Piano Quartets (Op. 25 and 26)'' (

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

) *Emanuel Ax and Yo-Yo Ma for ''Brahms: Sonatas for Cello & Piano'' (

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

) *Emanuel Ax, Yo-Yo Ma and

for ''Brahms/Beethoven/

: Clarinet Trios'' (

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

)

Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without orchestra) The Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without orchestra) was awarded from 1959 to 2011. From 1967 to 1971, and in 1987, the award was combined with the award for Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with orchestra) and aw ...

: *Emanuel Ax for ''

: Piano Sonatas, Nos. 32, 47, 53, 59'' (

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

) *Emanuel Ax for ''Haydn: Piano Sonatas Nos. 29, 31, 34, 35 & 49'' (

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

)

References

External links

Official websiteDiscography at SonyBMG MasterworksEmanuel Ax and Tom Kornberg: Scientist and Musician- Beethoven’s Cello Sonata No. 3 in A major, 1st movement
*, WNCN-FM, April 16, 1982

by Bruce Duffie, April 15, 1999 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ax, Emanuel 1949 births American classical pianists American male classical pianists Columbia College (New York) alumni Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Grammy Award winners Jewish American classical musicians Jewish classical pianists Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe) Juilliard School faculty Piano pedagogues Living people Musicians from Lviv Polish classical pianists Polish expatriates in Canada Polish emigrants to the United States 20th-century American pianists 21st-century classical pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American pianists 21st-century American Jews Prize-winners of the Queen Elisabeth Competition

Early life

Musical style

Personal life

Discography

Awards and recognitions

See also

References

External links