Boris Berman
The artistry of Boris Berman is well-known to the audiences of over forty countries on six continents. His highly acclaimed performances have included appearances with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Gewandhaus Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra (London), Toronto Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, St. Petersburg Philharmonic and Royal Scottish Orchestra. A frequent performer on major recital series, he has also appeared in important festivals, including Marlboro, Waterloo, Bergen, Ravinia and Israel Festival.
Born in Moscow, Mr. Berman studied at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory with Lev Oborin. He performed extensively throughout the Soviet Union as a recitalist and appeared as guest soloist with numerous orchestras. In 1973, Mr. Berman left a flourishing career in the Soviet Union to immigrate to Israel. He quickly established himself as on of the most sought-after keyboard performers, as well as one of the country’s more influential musical personalities.
A dedicated teacher of international stature, Mr. Berman has served on the faculties of Indiana (Bloomington), Boston, Brandeis and Tel-Aviv Universities. Professor of Piano at Yale School of Music since 1984, he is now heading the Piano Department of Yale School of Music. He also conducts master classes throughout the world and is a frequent juror of various national and international competitions. In 2005, he was named an Honorary Professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.
Mr. Berman’s acclaimed releases on Philips, Deutsche Gramophon and Melodia labels were followed by two CDs of all piano sonatas by Alexander Scriabin for the Music and Arts label and a recital of Shostakovich piano works (Ottavo), which received the Edison Classic Award in Holland, the Dutch equivalent of the Grammy. The recording of three Prokofiev Concertos with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Neeme Järvi conducting (Chandos) marked the beginning of an ambitious project of recording the complete Prokofiev solo piano works. In addition, Chandos has issued Mr. Berman’s recitals of works by Debussy, Stravinsky and Schnittke, as well as chamber music of Janáček and Stravinsky’s Concerto.
Berman’s most recent discography shows the breadth of his repertoire: a disc Debussy for Children (Ottavo); two releases of works for prepared piano by John Cage (Naxos), which was named the Top Recording by the BBC Music Magazine; the Grammy-nominated Piano Quintets of Shostakovich and Schnittke with the Vermeer Quartet (Naxos); and, quite unexpectedly, a recording of Scott Joplin’s Ragtimes (Ottavo). In the recently issued Naxos collection of complete Sequenzas by Luciano Berio, Mr. Berman plays Sequenza IV for piano. For the recording of Brahms Sonatas with the ’cellist Clive Greensmith (Biddulph), he used an 1867 Bechstein piano.
In 2000, the Yale University Press published Mr. Berman’s Notes from the Pianist’s Bench. In the book, Professor Berman draws on his vast experience as a performer and a teacher to explore issues of piano technique and music interpretation. The book has been translated into several languages. Mr. Berman is often invited to give lectures on these subjects at various universities and conferences around the world. Last year saw the release of Mr. Berman’s new book Prokofiev’s Piano Sonatas: A Guide for the Listener and Performer by Yale University Press.
In 2009-2010, Mr. Berman appears in concerts in the USA, Canada, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Australia, Denmark, Russia, Poland, Holland and France.