Jeremy Denk awarded 2014 AVERY FISHER PRIZE

The 2014 Avery Fisher Prize has been awarded to pianist Jeremy Denk—one of his generation’s most eloquent and thoughtful interpreters (New York Times). This announcement crowns a sensational season for Denk, who won both a 2013 MacArthur “genius grant” Fellowship and Musical America’s 2014 Instrumentalist of the Year last fall. Denk will be formally recognized at an invitational ceremony on May 29, at Lincoln Center. His name will join the twenty-one previous Prize recipients on a marble plaque in Avery Fisher Hall including Murray Perahia, Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax, Richard Goode, Yefim Bronfman, and Joshua Bell. Jeremy Denk was part of our 2012-2013 season.

CALEFAX and Queen Beatrix

January, 2013 - The CALEFAX Reed Quintet was honored by an invitation to accompany Her Majesty Beatrix, the Queen of The Netherlands on her official visits to Brunei and Singapore. The trip also brought Prince Willem-Alexander of Oranje and Princess Maxima to Southeast Asia, as well as captains of industry and Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Lilianne Ploumen. The Queen offered her hosts concerts by CALEFAX: in Brunei on Jan. 22nd, in Singapore on Jan. 25th. Both concerts were private. CALEFAX was part of our 2012-2013 season.

David Finckle & Wu Han America's 2012 Musicians of the Year

5 December, 2011. - On the evening of December 5th, David Finckle and Wu Han, who will appear this year in our 2012-2013 season, accepted Musical America’s 2012 Musicians of the Year award in a special celebration at Lincoln Center. Also honored were Instrumentalist of the Year, Gil Shaham; Composer of the Year, Meredith Monk; Vocalist of the Year, Jonas Kaufmann; and Conductor of the Year, Jaap van Zweden. David Finckle & Wu Han were part of our 2012-2013 season.

King's Singers Awards

13 February, 2012 - The King's Singers become double Grammy Award winning artists. We are delighted to announce that at the Grammy Awards last night, Light and Gold won the Best Choral Performance Category. The album was released in October 2010 and became the number 1 Classical Album in the US and UK charts within a week, reaping unanimous 5 start reviews across the board.

The King's Singers said, "The Stolen Child was commissioned to celebrate our 40th anniversary, and we are thrilled to become a double Grammy award winning artist." In a 5 star review, BBC Music Magazine said of the work "The Stolen Child, a joint commission for the King's Singers and the National Youth Chorus of Great Britain, is the most immediately impressive. Here Whitacre deftly weaves the entreating faerie voices of Yeat's poem with that of the 'human child' in closely interlocking textures whose shifting strands are expertly rendered by the artists in this performance."

The piece makes frequent appearances in our concert programmes around the world, and we are looking forward to performing it on our upcoming tour to the US in March.

This is Eric Whitacre's debut album as a conductor on Decca/Universal, and we are delighted for him to receive his first Grammy Award for this disc. Congratulations also to the other performers: Christopher Glynn, Hila Plitmann, Laudibus, Pavao Quartet and the Eric Whitacre Singers. The King's Singers were part of our 2011-2012 season.

Ensemble Caprice Awards

Feb. 17, 2011. One of our 2009-2010 artists, the Ensemble Caprice, have just been nominated for a JUNO award (the Canadian version of the Grammy award) for 2011 Classical Album of the Year: Vocal or Choral Performance for their CD Salsa Baroque.

At the end of January they were are also the winner of two Prix Opus awards from the Conseil québécois de la musique in the following categories: Concert of the Year - Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque Music: B minor Mass by J. S. Bach (December 3, 2009), and Performer of the Year.

Kirill Gerstein wins Gilmore Award

Jan 7, 2010. Kirill Gerstein, one of our 2004-2005 season artists, was named the recipient of the 2010 Gilmore Artist Award, only the sixth musician to have been so honored. The Gilmore Artist Award is made to an exceptional pianist who, regardless of age or nationality, possesses broad and profound musicianship and charisma and who desires and can sustain a career as a major international concert artist.

Unlike winners of most of the other major musical awards, the Gilmore Artist is determined through a selection that might be termed noncompetitive, at least in the usual sense. Pianists under scrutiny do not know that they have been nominated. This process distinguishes the Irving S. Gilmore International Keyboard Festival from other major international competitions. Nominations are received from a wide range of sources, including a large designated group of international musical performers and educators who are polled biennially for their suggestions. Recordings, preferably made during concert performances, of those nominated are then assessed by a six-member Artistic Advisory Committee appointed by the director of The Gilmore. The committee narrows the field of nominees to several finalists. Committee members travel to hear the artists anonymously in performances that are part of the candidates' established concert schedule. Only then does the committee make the final choice.