The Program

Schubert: Four Impromptus, D. 935
Schubert: Sonata in A Major, D. 664
Schubert: Sonata in B-flat Major, D. 960

The Artist

Born in Lvov, Poland, Emanuel Ax moved to Winnipeg, Canada with his family when he was a young boy. He studied at the Juilliard School, subsequently won the Young Concert Artists Award, and garnered further acclaim in 1974 when he won the first Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Tel Aviv.  In 1975 he won the Michaels Award of Young Concert Artists followed four years later by the coveted Avery Fisher Prize.  His most recent honors include the 2009 Institute for the Arts and Humanities Medal and election to the American Philosophical Society.

A seven time Grammy Award-winning recording artist, Emanuel Ax has performed with a veritable who's who of the classical world.  Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Isaac Stern and Jaime Laredo have all been frequent collaborators.  In recent seasons he has performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony and Toronto Symphony and presented a series of duo recitals with the pianist Yefim Bronfman.  Long a champion of contemporary music, Mr. Ax has premiered new works in recent years by eminent contemporary composers such as John Adams, Stephen Hartke and Bright Sheng.  He currently teaches at the Juilliard School.  For more information on Emanuel Ax, visit his www.emanuelax.com.