Vladimir Ashkenazy
Biography
In the years since Vladimir Ashkenazy first came to prominence on the world stage in the 1955 Chopin Competition in Warsaw he has built an extraordinary career not only as one of the most renowned pianists of our times.
Conducting has formed the largest part of his activities for the past 20 years and, following on from his period as Chief Conductor of the Czech Philharmonic from 1998 to 2003, Ashkenazy took up the position of Music Director of NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo in September 2004.
Alongside his position with the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Ashkenazy continues to have a warm and rewarding relationship with the Philharmonia Orchestra, of which he is Conductor Laureate.
In addition to his performances with the Philharmonia in London and around the UK each season, he tours with them worldwide, and has developed landmark projects such as 'Rachmaninoff Revisited' in 2002 at the Lincoln Center, New York.
Ashkenazy also holds the positions of Music Director of the European Union Youth Orchestra, with whom he tours each year, and Conductor Laureate of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.
While conducting takes up a significant portion of his time each season, Ashkenazy continues to devote himself to the piano, directing Mozart and Beethoven concertos from the keyboard.
Beyond his hectic and fulfilling performing schedule, Ashkenazy continues to be involved in some fascinating TV projects. He is inspired by his passionate drive to ensure that serious music continues to have a platform in the mainstream media and is made available to as broad an audience as possible.
The extraordinary Ashkenazy in Moscow programmes marked his first visit in 1989 to the country of his birth since leaving the USSR in the 1960s. More recently he has developed educational programmes with NHK TV including the 1999 Superteachers working with inner-city London school children, and in 2003-4 a documentary based around his 'Prokofiev and Shostakovich Under Stalin' project.
Vladimir Ashkenazy has an extensive number of recordings. See his full discography here.
