Murray Perahia

Murray Perahia was born in New York on April 19, 1947. For 11 years he studied with Jeannette Haien, then he entered the Mannes College of Music where he concentrated on conducting, ensemble playing, and theory. A solo New York debut in 1966 was followed by many chamber music performances at the Marlboro Festival and elsewhere. It was at this time that Perahia received extensive coaching from Horszowski. After his victory in the 1972 Leeds Competition, Perahia quickly earned major engagements worldwide. He established residence in London and began making an extensive series of recordings, most notably the complete Mozart concertos which he conducted from the keyboard. His repertoire embraces the acknowledged masterworks of the major composers for the piano. In the late 1980s, Perahia received informal coaching from Vladimir Horowitz. During the last few years he has shown much interest in the keyboard music of Bach. He is currently editing a new publication of the Beethoven sonatas for Henle.