Yefim Bronfman

The American pianist Yefim Bronfman was born in Tashkent (Uzbekistan) in 1958: his father was a concertmaster in the local opera orchestra, his mother a pianist, and it was from her that he received his first piano lessons. In 1973, the family emigrated to Israel, where Bronfman continued his piano studies with Arie Vardi at the Rubin Academy of Music in Tel Aviv. Soon after, he moved to the United States and perfected his skills with Rudolf Firkušný, Leon Fleisher, and Rudolf Serkin. Bronfman launched his international career in 1975 when he made his debut with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal under Zubin Mehta. He has since appeared with the world’s leading orchestras and conductors, including such figures as Daniel Barenboim, Herbert Blomstedt, Riccardo Chailly, Riccardo Muti, Sir Simon Rattle, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Franz Wel-ser-Möst. In the 2022-23 season, he performed the First Concerto of Brahms with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, played a Mozart concerto with the New York Philharmonic, toured Europe with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra in Beethoven’s Third Concerto, and gave the American premiere of Elena Firsova’s Piano Concerto, which was composed for him, with the Philadelphia Orchestra. He appeared with the Berlin Philharmonic in Bartók’s Second Piano Concerto, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in the Schnittke Concerto, and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in Beethoven’s Fourth. Bronfman regularly devotes himself to contemporary music and has premiered works by Salonen, Lindberg, and Widmann. Chamber music also holds an important place in his repertoire, as in his collaborations with Pinchas Zukerman, Martha Argerich, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Emmanuel Pahud, and Magdalena Kožená. Bronfman, who has been an American citizen since 1989 and who was awarded the Avery Fisher Prize in 1991, has an extensive discography; he received a Grammy Award for his recording of the three Bartók concertos with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Lucerne Festival (IMF) debut on 25 August 1999 in Bartók’s Second Piano Concerto, with the Israel Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta.

July 2023