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Dimitri Ashkenazy

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Dimitri Thor Ashkenazy (born October 8, 1969, in New York City) is an Icelandic clarinetist living in Switzerland.[1] He is the son of pianist and conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy and has toured Europe with him, as well as performing under him with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Biography

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Dimitri Ashkenazy was born into a musically successful family: he is the son of pianist and conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy and Þórunn Jóhannsdóttir, and his brother Vovka is also a professional pianist.[2][3][4][5] In 1978 he moved with his parents from his native Iceland to Switzerland, where he has lived ever since.[6] At the age of 9, he was involved in a waterskiing accident in Greece[7] when one of his legs was slashed by the propeller of a speedboat, severing the sciatic nerve.[3] He was brought to Sydney to Professor Earl Owen, a pioneer in microsurgery, to have the leg rebuilt.[3]

Ashkenazy received music lessons on the piano from the age of six, and at the age of 10 he switched to the clarinet.[6] He won numerous prizes at the Swiss Youth Music Competitions of 1986–88 in solo and chamber music, and in 1989 he entered the Conservatory of Lucerne, obtaining a teaching diploma with distinction in 1993 after studying under Giambattista Sisini.[6] He was a founding member of the European Soloists Ensemble in 1992.[4] A 1994 review in Stereo Review said of his interpretation of Richard Strauss, "The performers ... give an excellent account of themselves and of the delectable music."[8]

Since 1991, he has given concerts all over the world, including at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, the Sydney Opera House,[3] in London's Royal Festival Hall, the Salzburg Festival, the Rudolfinum in Prague and at the Salle Pleyel in Paris.[6] He has worked with prestigious orchestras such as the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra,[9] and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic and with renowned artists such as Peter Maxwell Davies, Krzysztof Penderecki, Edita Gruberová, Nikolai Morozov, Barbara Bonney and Bernd Glemser.[6] He has toured Europe with his father, and has performed under him with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.[2]

Ashkenazy has premiered five clarinet concertos: Caspar Diethelm's „Concerto Hiemalis“, Concerto per Clarinetto e Orchestra Piano Americano of Italian composer Marco Tutino at Teatro alla Scala, Passages for clarinet and orchestra by Filippo del Corno,[6] Richard Festinger's Equinox[10] and George Palmer's concerto It Takes Two, for two clarinets and chamber orchestra.[11]

References

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  1. ^ "Famed pianist's son finds place playing clarinet". Oklahoman.com. November 5, 2000.
  2. ^ a b Smith, Sidney Bertram (2005). Classical Musicians Speak Out as a New Century Begins. Melrose Press. p. 123. ISBN 978-1-905226-02-3.
  3. ^ a b c d "Ashkenazy: rebel with a clarinet". The Sydney Morning Herald. 22 November 2010. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  4. ^ a b Cummings, David M. (2000). International Who's Who in Music and Musician's Directory 2000/2001: (In the Classical and Light Classical Fields). Routledge. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-948875-53-3.
  5. ^ "CelebrityStats". CelebrityStats.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "Dimitri Ashkenazy" (in German). Musicmasters.ch. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  7. ^ Browne, Rachel; Sharp, Annette (April 8, 2007). "Ashkenazy, from Russia with love and a baton". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  8. ^ Stereo Review. CBS Magazines. 1994. p. 419.
  9. ^ "Dimitri Ashkenazy". Harrisonparrott.com. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  10. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2013-08-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. ^ "George Palmer: Concerts". Archived from the original on 2013-08-15. Retrieved 2013-08-31.
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