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 catalogue of recordings.
As a "Perspectives" artist at Carnegie Hall for the 2007-08 season, Mr. Bronfman will partner 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 Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Within the scope of the seven concerts he has curated, he will play repertoire ranging from solo piano, chamber, and orchestral by composers from Mozart to Prokofiev and Berg to Dalbavie. The fall begins with a tour of Japan with the Kirov Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev and a solo recital tour beginning during the visit to Japan and traversing the US to culminate in Carnegie Hall in December and continuing in Vienna, Paris, and Berlin in the spring. With orchestra, he will appear with the Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco, New Jersey, and Toronto symphony orchestras and will conclude the season with the west coast premiere of Esa-Pekka Salonen's piano concerto with Salonen conducting to be recorded live for later CD release.
For the opening Gala of the New York Philharmonic in September 2006, Mr. Bronfman partnered with Emanuel Ax in Mozart's Concerto for Two Pianos conducted by Lorin Maazel with live national TV coverage. In winter 2007, he gave the world premiere of Esa-Pekka Salonen's Piano Concerto, written for him and commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, and participated in the Israel Philharmonic's 70th birthday celebrations in concerts conducted by Zubin Mehta and Valery Gergiev. Other highlights of Mr. Bronfman's 2006-07 season include appearances with the Boston, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Philadelphia, and National symphony orchestras; Los Angeles and Vienna philharmonics; Orchestre de Paris and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; widely acclaimed performances at the Salzburg Easter Festival with the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Sir Simon Rattle; and a European tour with mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozena.
Highlights of Mr. Bronfman's 2005-06 season include a tour of Japan with the Bayerischer Rundfunk Orchestra and Mariss Jansons, a recital tour and recording for EMI with flutist Emmanuel Pahud, a tour of Germany with the Tönhalle Orchestra and David Zinman coinciding with the release of their complete Beethoven concerti discs, and concerts in the Far East with partners Gil Shaham and Truls Mork. He made solo appearances with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic and Yuri Temirkanov for the opening night of Carnegie Hall, with the Russian National Orchestra under Vladimir Jurowski at Lincoln Center, and at the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg with the Kirov Orchestra and Valery Gergiev.
Recent highlights include a duo recital tour of the United States with pianist Emanuel Ax; a performance with the Kirov Orchestra and Valery Gergiev at Carnegie Hall; and concerts with the Vienna Philharmonic and Valery Gergiev in Japan and with Sir Charles Mackerras in Salzburg and Amsterdam. During the 2004-05 season, Mr. Bronfman served as Pianist in Residence with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra performing multiple orchestral and chamber music concerts with the orchestra's members throughout the season. He recently completed recordings of all the Beethoven piano concerti as well as the Triple Concerto together with violinist Gil Shaham, cellist Truls Mork, and the Tönhalle Orchestra Zürich under David Zinman for the Arte Nova/BMG label.
Mr. Bronfman appears regularly with such celebrated ensembles as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Dresden Staatskapelle, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, London's Philharmonia, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, the Orchestre de Paris and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. He has worked with an equally illustrious group of conductors, including Daniel Barenboim, Herbert Blomstedt, Christoph von Dohnányi, Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, Valery Gergiev, Mariss Jansons, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Yuri Temirkanov, Franz Welser-Möst, and David Zinman. Summer engagements have regularly taken him to the Aspen, Bad Kissingen, Blossom, Hollywood Bowl, Lucerne, Mann Music Center, Mostly Mozart, Ravinia, Salzburg, Saratoga, Tanglewood, and Verbier festivals.
Mr. Bronfman has also 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 Mr. 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.
Mr. Bronfman has won widespread praise for his solo, chamber and orchestral recordings. He won a Grammy award in 1997 for his recording of the three Bartok Piano Concertos with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. His discography also includes the complete Prokofiev Piano Sonatas; all five of the Prokofiev Piano Concertos, nominated for both Grammy and Gramophone awards; Rachmaninoff's Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 3; recital albums featuring Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" and Stravinsky's "Three Scenes from Petrouchka," and Tchaikovsky's "The Seasons" paired with Balakirev's "Islamey;" and the Tchaikovsky and Arensky Piano Trios with Cho-Liang Lin and Gary Hoffman. His most recent releases are Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No.1 with Mariss Jansons and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks as well as ‘Perspectives' which complements Mr. Bronfman's designation as a Carnegie Hall ‘Perspectives' artist for the 2007-08 season.
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 Bartok Violin Sonatas. Coinciding with the release of the "Fantasia 2000" soundtrack, Mr. 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. In 2002, Sony Classical released his two-piano recital (with Emanuel Ax) of works by Rachmaninoff, which was followed in March 2005 by their second recording of works by Brahms.
A devoted chamber music performer, Mr. Bronfman has collaborated with the Emerson, Cleveland, Guarneri and Juilliard quartets, as well as the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He has also played chamber music with Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Lynn Harrell, Shlomo Mintz, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Pinchas Zukerman, and many other artists.
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. He made his New York Philharmonic debut in May l978, his Washington recital debut in March l98l at the Kennedy Center and his New York recital debut in January 1982 at the 92nd Street Y.
Mr. 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.
