Vladimir Ashkenazy

He was born in Gorky (now Nizhny Novgorod), the former Soviet Union on July 6, 1937.

In 1954, he won the second prize in the Chopin International Piano Competition.

In 1956, he was awarded the gold medal in the Queen Elisabeth International Piano Competition in Brussels.

In 1962, he tied for the first prize in the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow. The following year, he settled in Iceland and now resides in the UK.

In 1989, he was appointed as the chief conductor of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (later renamed the Berlin Deutsche Symphony Orchestra). He is also the music director of the London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, performing Russian music mainly by Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky with them. He is also a guest conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra and has conducted the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam.

From 1987 to 1994, he served as the chief conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

From 1998 to 2003, he served as the chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.

In 2004, he was appointed as the music director of the NHK Symphony Orchestra.

In addition, Ashkenazy has been awarded the title of laureate conductor by the Philharmonia Orchestra (UK) and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, and he holds the position of music director of the European Union Youth Orchestra, which he often collaborates with.

For Ashkenazy’s views on music philosophy, one can refer to “Beyond Frontiers” (New York: Atheneum, 1985), co-authored by him and Jasper Parrott.