Emanuel Ax

Performing:
Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4
June 10 & 11, 2011

• Recipient of seven Grammy Awards to-date
• Recently performed in a trio with Itzhak Perlman and long-term chamber music partner Yo-Yo Ma
• Collaborated on a special project with the Mark Morris Dance Group last year

Jonathan Biss

Performing:
Beethoven Piano Concerto No.2
March 25-27, 2011

• Recipient of the Leonard Bernstein Award at the 2005 Schleswig-Holstein Festival
• First American to participate in BBC’s New Generation Artist program between 2002-2004
• At age 19, received an Avery Fisher Career Grant
• Is a third-generation musician; Barber’s Cello Concerto was composed for his grandmother

Yefim Bronfman

Performing:
Bartók Piano Concerto No.3
October 1-3, 2010

• Nominated for a 2009 Grammy Award with his recent recording of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s piano concerto dedicated to him
• Performed the Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 2 on the Fantasia 2000 soundtrack
• His recording of the Bartók piano concertos received a 1997 Grammy Award

Hélčne Grimaud

Performing:
Mozart Piano Concerto No. 23
May 13-15, 2011

• Recorded her debut album at age 15 and received a 1986 Grand Prix du Disque
• Recipient of a 2005 ECHO Award in the “Instrumentalist of the Year” category
• Has a passion for wolves; co-founded the Wolf Conservation Center, NY

Olga Kern

Performing:
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 1
October 22-24, 2010

• Earned the distinction of being the first woman recipient of the Gold Medal at the 2001 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in more than three decades
• Less than two weeks after her recital debut at Carnegie Hall in 2004, she was re-invited to perform at Carnegie’s Isaac Stern Auditorium
• Was born into a musical family with ties to Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff

Denis Matsuev

Performing:
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1
February 4-6, 2011

• Received first prize at the 11^th International Tchaikovsky Competition, Moscow at age 23
• Debuted to great acclaim with the PSO during the 2008 Rachmaninoff Festival
• Both his parents are pianists; Mr. Matsuev displayed his talent at age three when he played a tune he had heard on television on the piano
• In addition to the classical repertoire, enjoys playing jazz

Garrick Ohlsson

Performing:
Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1
April 8-10, 2011

• Was the first American pianist to win the Gold Medal at the International Frédéric Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 1970
• In celebration of the Chopin Year, Ohlsson performs in a gala concert at Chopin’s birth house in Warsaw on this year
• Is in the process of recording the complete Beethoven Sonatas; the third CD in the series has received a Grammy Award
• Has an exceptional keyboard stretch of an octave and a fifth

Jorge Federico Osorio

Performing:
Liszt Piano Concerto No.2
April 1-3, 2011

• Recognized as one of the greatest interpreters of Spanish piano music
• Served as artistic director of the Brahms Music Festival in Mexico
• Trained at the conservatories of Mexico, Paris and Moscow

Lars Vogt

Performing:
Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1
February 25-27, 2011

• Has recorded fifteen albums for EMI Classics
• Served as the first ever “Pianist-in-Residence” for the Berlin Philharmonic in 2003-2004
• Initiated “Rhapsody in School,” an educational project taking Vogt and his musician friends to schools all over Germany

Yuja Wang

Performing:
Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini
September 24-26, 2010                          

• At age 22, Ms. Wang is an exclusive recording artist for Deutsche Grammophon
• Nominated for a 2009 Grammy Award in the Best Instrumental Soloist category for her debut recording Sonatas & Etudes
• Performed as soloist with the YouTube Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall last year
• Named ClassicFM Gramophone Awards 2009 Young Artist of the Year