Yefim Bronfman

YEFIM BRONFMAN is widely regarded as one of the most talented virtuoso pianists performing today. His commanding technique and exceptional lyrical gifts have won him consistent critical acclaim and enthusiastic audiences worldwide, whether for his solo recitals, his prestigious orchestral engagements, or his rapidly growing catalog of recordings.
 
Recently he appeared as the featured guest with the Berlin Philharmonic and Simon Rattle at their annual outdoor summer concert at Waldbühne in a program titled “Russian Evening” televised live throughout Europe.
 
Summer 2009 included two appearances with the Boston Symphony at the Tanglewood Festival. As “Artiste Étoile” in residence at the Lucerne Festival he appears with a wide range of repertoire in recital; chamber music; and with the London Philharmonia under Esa-Pekka Salonen, the Lucerne Academy Orchestra and Pierre Boulez, and the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Zubin Mehta.
 
Highlights of his 2009/10 season include concerts with the Chicago Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Cleveland Orchestra. Following concerts with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Alan Gilbert he will join them on tour in Europe in winter 2010. He will appear in London again with the Philharmonia under Christoph von Dohnányi playing both Brahms Piano Concertos for a live recording on the orchestra’s label.
 
A recital tour in Japan will continue with concerts in Rome, Vienna, Warsaw, and North America, and will culminate at Carnegie Hall, where he will also appear in duo with Magdalena Kozˇená.
 
As an “On Location” Artist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic for the 2008/09 season, Bronfman appeared in two subscription concerts as well as a tour of the Far East with that orchestra and Esa-Pekka Salonen, in addition to a chamber music concert with the orchestra’s musicians. Other highlights of Bronfman’s 2008/09 season included a duo recital tour with Emanuel Ax, including performances at Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and Carnegie Hall, and a solo recital tour traversing the U.S.
 
As a “Perspectives” artist at Carnegie Hall for the 2007/08 season, Bronfman partnered with some of the world’s greatest orchestras and conductors, including the Vienna Philharmonic with Valery Gergiev, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra with Mariss Jansons, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra with James Levine, and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Other 2007/08 season engagements included a tour of Japan with the Kirov Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev and the West Coast premiere of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Piano Concerto with Salonen conducting, released in the spring of 2009 on Deutsche Grammophon.
 
Bronfman has given numerous solo recitals in the leading halls of North America, Europe, and the Far East, including acclaimed debuts at Carnegie Hall in 1989 and Avery Fisher Hall in 1993. In 1991 he gave a series of joint recitals with Isaac Stern in Russia, marking Bronfman’s first public performances there since his emigration to Israel at age 15. That same year he was awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize, one of the highest honors given to American instrumentalists.
 
Bronfman has won widespread praise for his solo, chamber, and orchestral recordings. He won a Grammy in 1997 for his recording of Bartók’s Piano Concertos with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. His discography also includes the complete Prokofiev Piano Sonatas; all five Prokofiev Piano Concertos (nominated for Grammy and Gramophone awards); and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 3 (with Salonen and the Philharmonia). His most recent releases are Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Mariss Jansons and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks; a recital disc, Perspectives, to complement his Carnegie Hall designation; and recordings of the complete Beethoven Piano Concertos, as well as the Triple Concerto – together with violinist Gil Shaham, cellist Truls Mørk, and the Tönhalle Orchestra Zürich under David Zinman for the Arte Nova/BMG label.
 
His recordings with Isaac Stern include the Brahms Violin Sonatas from their aforementioned Russian tour, a cycle of the Mozart Sonatas for Violin and Piano, and the Bartók Violin Sonatas. Coinciding with the release of the Fantasia 2000 soundtrack, Bronfman was featured on his own Shostakovich album, performing the two Piano Concertos with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting, and the Piano Quintet (with the Juilliard Quartet). In 2002, Sony Classical released his two-piano recital (with Emanuel Ax) of works by Rachmaninoff, which was followed in 2005 by their second recording, works by Brahms. 2008 saw the release of the Tchaikovsky Trio in A minor with partners Gil Shaham and Truls Mørk and a Schubert/Mozart disc with the Zukerman Chamber Players.
 
Yefim Bronfman immigrated to Israel with his family in 1973, and made his international debut two years later with Zubin Mehta and the Montreal Symphony. Bronfman was born in Tashkent, in the Soviet Union, on April 10, 1958. In Israel he studied with pianist Arie Vardi, head of the Rubin Academy of Music at Tel Aviv University. In the United States, he studied at the Juilliard School, Marlboro, and the Curtis Institute, and with Rudolf Firkusny´, Leon Fleisher, and Rudolf Serkin.
 
Yefim Bronfman became an American citizen in July 1989.