Pianist Murray Perahia To Perform In Recital

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Northwestern University’s Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music will welcome world-renowned American concert pianist Murray Perahia, the 2012 winner of the school’s biennial Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano Performance, to the Evanston campus.

Perahia, a two-time Grammy Award recipient, will perform in a 7:30 p.m. Sunday, March 2 recital at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive.

He also will coach two Bienen School doctoral students during a two-hour piano master class at 10 a.m. Monday, March 3, in Lutkin Hall, 700 University Place. EunAe Lee will play Brahms’ Variations on a Theme of Handel, Op. 24 and Yingying Su will perform Beethoven’s Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111. Admission is free and open to the public. 

In addition to receiving a $50,000 cash award, the Jean Gimbel Lane Prize winner spends two to three non-consecutive weeks in residency at the Bienen School and engages in master classes, chamber music coaching and lectures. The prize is made possible by a generous gift from Jean Gimbel Lane and the late Honorable Laurence W. Lane. Jean Gimbel Lane is a 1952 graduate of Northwestern University who majored in art history. 

Perahia’s March 2 recital is the follow-up to a fall 2012 master class with Bienen School piano students. His program includes Bach’s French Suite No. 4 in E-flat Major, Beethoven’s Sonata No. 23 in F Minor (“Appassionata”) and Schumann’s “Papillons.” It also features Chopin’s Nocturne Op. 62, No. 1; Etude Op. 25, No. 1; Etude Op. 25, No. 5; Etude Op. 10, No. 4; and Scherzo No. 2 in B-flat Minor, Op. 31. Tickets are $22 for the general public and $10 for students with valid IDs.

For more information, call the Pick-Staiger Concert Office at (847) 491-5441 or visit Pick-Staiger. To order tickets, call the Pick-Staiger Ticket Office at (847) 467-4000 or visit Pick-Staiger.

MURRAY PERAHIA

Born in New York, Perahia has lived in London for most of his professional career. He began playing piano at the age of four and later attended Mannes College, where he studied conducting and composition. A former student of Mieczyslaw Hoszowski, Perahia spent the summers of his formative years at the Marlboro Festival. There he collaborated with and was influenced by legendary musicians Rudolf Serkin, Pablo Casals and others.

Perahia has performed at countless international music centers and with every major orchestra. Since rising to prominence after winning the 1972 Leeds International Piano Competition, he has become one of the world’s most sought-after pianists. He is the principal guest conductor of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, with whom he has toured as conductor and pianist throughout the United States, Europe, Japan and Southeast Asia. Highlights of the current season include the Schumann Concerto with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and performances -- his first in Australia -- at the Sydney Opera House and Melbourne Recital Center.

His other many honors include the Avery Fisher Prize, the Royal Philharmonic’s Instrumentalist Award, the Claudio Arrau Memorial Medal of the Robert Schumann Society and numerous Gramophone awards. In recognition of his outstanding service to music, Perahia was appointed as an honorary Knight Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 2004. For more on Perahia, visit The Official Murray Perahia Site.