Murray Perahia facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Murray Perahia
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Perahia in 2012
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| Born | April 19, 1947 New York City, U.S.
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| Alma mater | Mannes College |
| Occupation | Pianist, conductor |
| Spouse(s) | Ninette Shohet |
| Children | 2 |
| Awards | See Awards |
| Musical career | |
| Instruments | Piano |
| Labels | Sony Classical, Deutsche Grammophon |
Murray David Perahia is a famous American pianist and conductor. He was born on April 19, 1947. Many people think he is one of the greatest living pianists. In 1972, he was the first pianist from North America to win the important Leeds International Piano Competition.
Perahia is well-known for playing music by composers like Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven. He has won many awards, including three Grammy Awards and nine Gramophone Awards.
Contents
Early Life and Musical Start
Murray Perahia was born in the Bronx, a part of New York City. His family came from Thessaloniki, Greece, and were Sephardi Jews. His first language was Judaeo-Spanish, also known as Ladino.
He started playing the piano when he was four years old. At first, his teacher made him play one piece until it was perfect. When he was 15, he suddenly became very interested in music and started practicing a lot.
At 17, Perahia went to Mannes College. There, he studied piano, conducting, and composing with his teacher, Mieczysław Horszowski. In the summers, he also learned from other great musicians like Rudolf Serkin and Pablo Casals. He even played piano duets with Serkin, who later asked Perahia to be his assistant.
In 1965, Perahia won the Young Concert Artists International Auditions. In 1972, he won first prize at the Leeds Piano Competition. This win helped make the competition famous for helping young pianists start their careers.
Music Career Highlights
In 1973, Perahia worked with famous musicians Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears at the Aldeburgh Festival. He also worked with fellow pianist Radu Lupu. He later helped lead the Festival from 1981 to 1989.
In the 1980s, Perahia was invited to work with Vladimir Horowitz, another legendary pianist. Perahia said this experience greatly influenced his own piano playing. He became good friends with Horowitz and visited him often in his last years.
From 1973 to 2010, Perahia recorded music mainly for Sony Classical. He recorded all 27 of Mozart's piano concertos, leading the English Chamber Orchestra from the piano. He also recorded Beethoven's five piano concertos.
Overcoming Hand Injuries
In 1990, Perahia had a cut on his right thumb that became infected. This led to health problems. In 1992, his career was at risk because of a bone issue in his hand that caused swelling. He had to take several years off from playing and had many operations. During this time, he found comfort in studying the music of J.S. Bach.
After he recovered, he released many award-winning recordings of Bach's piano music in the late 1990s. This included a famous version of the Goldberg Variations.
In 2005, his hand problem returned, and he had to stop performing for a while. He canceled many concerts but slowly returned to the stage in 2006 and 2007. His hand issues continued to cause him to cancel some tours in 2008, but he kept returning to perform.
Recent Musical Activities
Perahia has recorded Chopin's études and Schubert's late piano sonatas. He is also working on a new edition of Beethoven's piano sonatas. Besides his solo performances, Perahia also plays chamber music with groups like the Guarneri Quartet. He is also a main guest conductor for the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
In 2009, Murray Perahia became the president of the Jerusalem Music Center. He believes that "Music represents an ideal world where all dissonances resolve, where all modulations — that are journeys — return home, and where surprise and stability coexist."
In 2016, Perahia started recording for Deutsche Grammophon. His first album with them, Bach's French Suites, came out in October 2016. After a six-year break due to health, Perahia returned to performing at Wigmore Hall on April 16, 2024.
Teaching and Sharing Music
After finishing college, Perahia taught at Mannes College from 1969 to 1979. He has also taught special classes, called masterclasses, at famous schools like Juilliard School and Stanford University.
Every summer, he teaches a course for young Israeli pianists aged 12 to 18 at the Jerusalem Music Centre. As president of the JMC, he continues to give many masterclasses. He also plans to teach a series of masterclasses in Munich about Beethoven's piano sonatas.
Personal Life
Murray Perahia lives in London with his wife, Ninette Shohet. They have two adult sons, Benjamin and Raphael.
Awards and Honors
Murray Perahia has received many awards and honors throughout his career:
- Leeds International Piano Competition
- 1972 First Prize
- Seventh International Schumann Festival
- 2000 Claudio Arrau Memorial Medal
- Grammy Awards
- Gramophone Awards
- 1984 for best concerto recording (Mozart)
- 1986 for best concerto recording (Beethoven)
- 1986 for best instrumental recording (Schubert and Mozart with Radu Lupu)
- 1995 for best instrumental recording (Chopin)
- 1996 for best instrumental recording (Handel and Scarlatti)
- 2001 for best instrumental recording (Bach's Goldberg Variations)
- 2003 for best instrumental recording (Chopin's Études)
- 2011 for piano music of Johannes Brahms
- 2016 for Six French Suites by J.S. Bach
Perahia is also an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Music and an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music. In 2007, he became an Honorary Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge.
On March 8, 2004, Queen Elizabeth II made him an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE). This means he can use the letters KBE after his name, but he is not called "Sir."
In 2012, he was voted into the first-ever Gramophone Hall of Fame. He also received the Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano Performance from Northwestern University in 2012. In 2013, he was given the Royal Academy of Music Bach Prize. In 2015, he received the Wolf Prize in Arts.
A type of bee from Israel was even named after him in 2016! In 2024, he received an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Cambridge.
Selected Recordings
Murray Perahia has released many recordings over the years. Here are some of his notable albums:
- 1980s
- Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 26 (1984)
- Schubert: Wanderer Fantasy; Schumann: Fantasy in C major (1986)
- Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 3 and 4 (1986)
- Beethoven: The five piano concertos (1988)
- 1990s
- Schubert: Impromptus (1990)
- Chopin: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 (1990)
- Bach: Harpsichord Concertos (1993)
- Murray Perahia Plays Handel and Scarlatti (1997)
- Bach: English Suites Nos. 1, 3 and 6 (1998)
- Bach: English Suites Nos. 2, 4 and 5 (1999)
- 2000s and beyond
- Bach: Goldberg Variations (2000)
- Chopin: Études (2001)
- Schubert: Late Piano Sonatas (2003)
- Bach: Partitas Nos. 2, 3, 4 (2008)
- Brahms: Handel Variations; Two Rhapsodies (2010)
- Bach: The French Suites (2016)
- Beethoven: Piano Sonatas op. 106 "Hammerklavier" & Op. 27/2 "Moonlight" (2018)
Videography
- Murray Perahia in Performance (1992)
- Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 21 and 27 in rehearsal and performance (1992)
- Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 (1988)
See also
In Spanish: Murray Perahia para niños
