Emanuel Ax

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Emanuel Ax (born June 8, 1949) is a Ukranian-born Jewish-American pianist.

Born in Lviv (Ukraine), 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, and earned his B.A. at Columbia University.

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, as well as older composers such as Beethoven and Mozart. Ax regularly performs duo recitals with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and played quartets with Isaac Stern, Jaime Laredo and Yo-Yo Ma. For Sony, though the quartet had to disband in 2001 when Stern died, they have recorded works by Brahms, Fauré, Beethoven, Schumann and Mozart. He lives in New York City with his wife, pianist Yoko Nozaki, and has two children, Joseph and Sarah.

[edit] Awards and Recognitions

Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance:

Emanuel Ax & Yo-Yo Ma for Brahms: Cello and Piano Sonatas in E Minor and F (1986)
Emanuel Ax & Yo-Yo Ma for Beethoven: Cello and Piano Sonata No. 4 in C & Variations (1987)
Emanuel Ax, Jaime Laredo, Yo-Yo Ma & Isaac Stern for Brahms: Piano Quartets (Op. 25 and 26) (1992)
Emanuel Ax & Yo-Yo Ma for Brahms: Sonatas for Cello & Piano (1993)
Emanuel Ax, Yo-Yo Ma & Richard Stoltzman for Brahms/Beethoven/Mozart: Clarinet Trios (1996)