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.
Orchestral highlights of the 2009/10 season include two performances at the Tanglewood Festival with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under James Levine and Michael Tilson Thomas; an appearance at the Lucerne Festival with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Esa-Pekka Salonen, followed by concerts with the Philharmonia and Christoph von Dohnányi performing both Brahms piano concertos; multiple concerts with the Vienna Philharmonic with Zubin Mehta and the Lucerne Academy Orchestra with Pierre Boulez; Artiste Etoile at the Lucerne Festival; a European tour with the New York Philharmonic and Alan Gilbert and subscription concerts with the Chicago, Los Angeles and Philadelphia orchestras. Recitals in 2009/10 include appearances at New York’s Carnegie Hall, a recital tour through ten US cities and performances in Vienna and Warsaw. Mr. Bronfman made a recent appearance with Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic at Waldbühne which was televised live throughout Europe.
Born in Tashkent in the Soviet Union on 10 April 1958, Yefim Bronfman immigrated to Israel with his family in 1973, where 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 ... read full bio
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.
Mr. Bronfman’s 2010/11 US season highlights include recitals in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Carnegie Hall as well as performances of Tchaikovsky’s first piano concerto with the orchestras of Houston, Cincinnati and Saint Louis and Brahms’ second with the orchestras of Atlanta, New York and Los Angeles. He will also make return concerto appearances in Seattle, New Jersey, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Toronto, Montreal and Washington. With long-time friend and collaborator Pinchas Zukerman, he will appear in duo recital in Princeton, Kansas City, Chicago, Boston and Carnegie Hall.
In Europe he will tour with the Vienna Philharmonic playing the concerto written for him by Esa-Pekka Salonen who will also conduct and with the Philharmonia Orchestra of London, also with maestro Salonen, he will begin a two-season project of the three Bartók concerti in London and on tour in Europe. In partnership with Berlin’s Staatskapelle and Daniel Barenboim all three Bartók concerti will again be featured in programs in Berlin, Vienna and Paris. Return engagements in Europe include the Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw, Israel Philharmonic, London Symphony, Frankfurt Radio, Santa Cecilia Rome and Munich Philharmonic.
Orchestral highlights of the 2009/10 season included two performances at the Tanglewood Festival with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under James Levine and Michael Tilson Thomas and the New York Philharmonic’s first European tour with Music Director Alan Gilbert. As “Artiste Etoile” in residence at the Lucerne Festival he appeared 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. In summer 2009, he was the featured soloist at the Berlin Philharmonic’s annual Waldbühne concert conducted by Sir Simon Rattle and televised live throughout Europe. Similarly, in summer 2010, he soloed with the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Franz Welser-Möst at their televised outdoor concert from Schönbrunn Palace. Both performances are now available on commercial DVDs.
Mr. Bronfman works regularly with an 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 major festivals of Europe and the US.
He 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. In 2010 he was honored as the recipient of the Jean Gimbel Lane prize in piano performance from Northwestern University.
Widely praised for his solo, chamber and orchestral recordings he was awarded a GRAMMY® in 1997 for his recording of the three Bartók Piano Concerti with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. His discography also includes the complete Prokofiev Piano Sonatas; all five of the Prokofiev Piano Concerti, nominated for both GRAMMY® and Gramophone Awards; and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 3. 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 Mr. Bronfman’s designation as a Carnegie Hall ‘Perspectives’ artist for the 2007-08 season, and recordings of all the Beethoven piano concerti 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, Mr. Bronfman was featured on his own Shostakovich album, performing the two Piano Concerti 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. 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
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 tours regularly in duo with Emanuel Ax.
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.
Audio clips:
Dichotomie: I. Mécanisme performed by Yefim Bronfman and Piano Concerto: Movement I from the album Salonen performed by Yefim Bronfman, Los Angeles Philharmonic & Esa-Pekka Salonen courtesy of Deutsche Grammophon (Universal).
Last updated August 2010. Contact Opus 3 Artists for the most up-to-date version.
