Can a piano be a conduit to the soul? In the more than 35 years he has been performing on the concert stage, Murray Perahia has become one of the most cherished pianists of our time.

Anyone who has heard one of Murray Perahia’s previous 11 UMS appearances would have to agree with the assessment of The Los Angeles Times: “Perahia is a marvel.” The Seattle Times notes, “Perahia may be the closest thing to a pure conduit of music — one in which the imagination and skill of the player are entirely at the service of the composer, not the player’s ego…The soul of a poet, the mind of a thinker, the hands of a virtuoso: No wonder audiences love this guy.”

Program:
Haydn: Sonata in D Major, H XVI: 24 (1773)
Schubert: Moments musicaux, D. 780 (1823)
Beethoven: Sonata No. 14 in c-sharp minor “Quasi una fantasia”, Op. 27, No. 2 (Moonlight) (1801)
Schumann: Faschingsschwank aus Wien, Op. 26 (Carnival Scenes from Vienna) (1839)
Chopin: Impromptu No. 2 in F-sharp Major, Op. 36 (1839)
Chopin: Scherzo No. 1 in b minor, Op. 20 (1839)
Program Book [PDF]
Encore:
Brahms: Intermezzo in C Major, Op. 119
Schubert: Impromptu in E-Flat Major, Op. 90, No. 2

Also see:
Murray Perahia Website

In the more than 35 years he has been performing on the concert stage, American pianist Murray Perahia has become one of the most sought-after and cherished pianists of our time, performing in all of the major international music centers and with every leading orchestra. 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 South East Asia.

Born in New York, Mr. Perahia started playing piano at the age of four, and later attended Mannes College where he majored in conducting and composition. His summers were spent at the Marlboro Festival, where he collaborated with such musicians as Rudolf Serkin, Pablo Casals, and the members of the Budapest String Quartet. He also studied at the time with Mieczyslaw Horszowski. In subsequent years, he developed a close friendship with Vladimir Horowitz, whose perspective and personality were an abiding inspiration. In 1972 Mr. Perahia won the Leeds International Piano Competition, and in 1973 he gave his first concert at the Aldeburgh Festival, where he worked closely with Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears. Mr. Perahia was co-artistic director of the Festival from 1981 to 1989.

Mr. Perahia has a wide and varied discography. His most recent release, Brahms Händel Variations, has been called “one of the most rewarding Brahms recitals currently available.” Last year, Sony Classical released a 5-CD boxed set of his Chopin recordings. He is the recipient of two Grammy awards, for his recordings of Chopin’s complete Etudes and Bach’s English Suites Nos. 1, 3, and 6, and numerous Grammy nominations. Mr. Perahia has also won several Gramophone Awards.

Mr. Perahia is an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music, and he holds honorary doctorates from Leeds University and Duke University. In 2004, he was awarded an honorary KBE by Her Majesty The Queen, in recognition of his outstanding service to music.

Murray Perahia has appeared under UMS auspices eleven times, last in Ann Arbor during the 2006-2007 season.

Murray Perahia plays Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata 3rd Movement