Grammy Award-winning pianist Emanuel Ax returns to Carnegie Hall for four performances this spring, first joining celebrated violinist Pamela Frank for a program of Mozart violin sonatas on Tuesday, March 15 at 7:30 p.m. in Zankel Hall.
Mr. Ax then partners with his esteemed long-time collaborator
Yo-Yo Ma on Friday, April 15 at 8:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage for an evening of Beethoven's five cello sonatas. Mr. Ax continues his exploration of Beethoven, performing some of the composer's most beloved works for piano in a solo recital on Wednesday, April 27 at 8:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage.
Mr. Ax also appears at
Carnegie Hall on Thursday, May 5 at 7:00 p.m. in its 125th Anniversary Gala Concert. He along with fellow
Carnegie Hall Artist Trustees and other special guests-including
Martina Arroyo,
Michael Feinstein, Renée Fleming,
Marilyn Horne,
Lang Lang,
Yo-Yo Ma,
Jessye Norman,
Itzhak Perlman, and
James Taylor-celebrate
Carnegie Hall's 125th birthday with a special concert exactly 125 years to the day that the Hall first opened its doors in 1891. The gala performance also features the Oratorio Society of New York and Orchestra of
St. Luke's led by conductor Pablo Heras-Casado.
Born in Lvov, Poland, Emanuel Ax captured public attention in 1974 when he won the first
Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition; he went on to win the Young Concert Artists Michaels Award (1975) and the Avery Fisher Prize (1979).
Mr. Ax's current season features three prominent duo collaborations. Beginning with the release of Fauré and Strauss sonatas on the Deutsche Grammophon label with long-time friend and colleague
Itzhak Perlman, the duo will partner for concerts in Kansas City, Ravinia, Dallas, Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and La Jolla in the first half of the season. A return visit to Japan will be followed by concerts in Paris, Berlin, Rome, Tel Aviv, and Amsterdam. He performs Mozart sonatas with violinist
Pamela Frank in Philadelphia and New York in addition to their performance at
Carnegie Hall. And
Yo-Yo Ma will join him in Norfolk, VA and Washington, DC, and New York, including a performance at
Carnegie Hall, where they will program the Beethoven sonatas for cello and piano. Solo recitals in Tokyo, Arizona, Florida, Texas, and Boston will culminate in
Carnegie Hall as part of the hall's 125th anniversary celebrations in May. As an annual guest with the
New York Philharmonic, he will play Brahms with
Alan Gilbert in addition to return visits to orchestras in Houston, Chicago, and Pittsburgh.
A Grammy Award-winning artist exclusive to the
Sony Classical label since 1987, his most recent release is a recital disc exploring variations by composers including Haydn, Schumann, and Copland. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and holds honorary doctorates from Yale and Columbia Universities.
American violinist
Pamela Frank has established an outstanding international reputation across an unusually varied range of performing activity. In addition to her extensive schedule of engagements with prestigious orchestras throughout the world and her recitals on the leading concert stages, she is regularly sought after as a chamber music partner by today's most distinguished soloists and ensembles. The breadth of this accomplishment and her consistently high level of musicianship were recognized in 1999 with the Avery Fisher Prize, one of the highest honors given to American instrumentalists.
Born in New York City, Ms. Frank is the daughter of noted pianists Claude Frank and Lilian Kallir. She began her violin studies at age 5 and after 11 years as a pupil of Shirley Givens continued her musical education with Szymon Goldberg and Jaime Laredo. In 1985, she formally launched her career with the first of her four appearances with Alexander Schneider and the New York String Orchestra at
Carnegie Hall. A recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1988, she graduated the following year from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.
The many-faceted career of cellist
Yo-Yo Ma is testament to his continual search for new ways to communicate with audiences and to his personal desire for artistic growth and renewal. Mr. Ma maintains a balance between his engagements as soloist with orchestras worldwide and his recital and chamber music activities. His discography includes over 90 albums, including 18 Grammy Award winners.
Mr. Ma was born in Paris to Chinese parents who later moved the family to New York. He began to study cello at the age of four, attended the Juilliard School and in 1976 graduated from Harvard University. He has received numerous awards, among them the Avery Fisher Prize (1978), the National Medal of Arts (2001), and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2010). In 2011, Mr. Ma was recognized as a Kennedy Center Honoree. Most recently, Mr. Ma has joined the Aspen Institute Board of Trustees. He has performed for eight American presidents, most recently at the invitation of
President Obama on the occasion of the 56th Inaugural Ceremony.
