Emanuel Ax
Emanuel Ax (born June 8, 1949) is a Polish-American pianist. Born in Lvov (Poland), he began to study the piano at the age of six in Warsaw. When the family moved to North America in 1961 he continued his studies at the Juilliard School under Mieczylaw Munz. He lives in New York with his wife, the pianist Yoko Nazaki, and their two children.
- 1974 – Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Tel Aviv
- 1979 – Avery Fisher Prize in New York
Ax is a particular supporter of 20th century composers and has given three world premieres in the last few seasons; Century Rolls 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. Ax regularly performs duo recitals with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, their recordings together have earned three Grammy Awards. He also received a Grammy award for his Brahms Trio recording with Ma and Richard Stolzman. Ax regularly plays quartets with Isaac Stern, Jaime Laredo and Yo-Yo Ma and for Sony they have recorded works by Brahms, Faure, Beethoven, Schumann and Mozart.
Awards and Recognitions
- Grammy Awards of 1986
- Grammy Awards of 1987
- Emanuel Ax & Yo-Yo Ma for Beethoven: Cello and Piano Sonata No. 4 in C & Variations
- Grammy Awards of 1992
- Emanuel Ax, Jaime Laredo, Yo-Yo Ma & Isaac Stern for Brahms: Piano Quartets (Op. 25 and 26)
- Grammy Awards of 1993
- Emanuel Ax & Yo-Yo Ma for Brahms: Sonatas for Cello & Piano
- Grammy Awards of 1996
- Emanuel Ax, Yo-Yo Ma & Richard Stoltzman for Brahms/Beethoven/Mozart: Clarinet Trios
- Grammy Awards of 1995
- Emanuel Ax for Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Nos. 32, 47, 53, 59
- Grammy Awards of 2004
- Emanuel Ax for Haydn: Piano Sonatas Nos. 29, 31, 34, 35 & 49
Categories: Polish pianists | Classical pianists