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Vladimir Ashkenazy – 2nd Prize winner, 5th International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw (1955). Vladimir Ashkenazy was born into a musical family. His father was a well-known stage pianist who enjoyed considerable success in Soviet Russia. The young Vladimir's first piano lessons were given by his father. Between 1943 and 1945, Mr. Ashkenazy studied at a district music school in Moscow. In 1945 he became a student of the Central Special Music School at the Moscow Conservatoire in the class of Lev Oborin.

White still a student, Mr. Ashkenazy entered the Chopin Competition in Warsaw (1955) and came 2nd out of nearly 100 participants. The following year Mr. Ashkenazy was awarded 1st Prize at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, a success he duplicated when he came first (ex aequo with John Ogdon) at the 2nd Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1962.

In 1963 Mr. Ashkenazy, together with his wife, a pianist from Iceland, emigrated first to England and later to Iceland where he received citizenship in 1968. Since that time he has developed a successful international career as a pianist, chamber musician and conductor, appearing at the leading musical venues around the world.

When speaking of his work in several fields of music, Mr. Ashkenazy often says that since for him music constitutes an indivisible whole, he works simultaneously as a virtuoso pianist, chamber musician and conductor, a multiple vocation which gives him complete artistic satisfaction.

For forty years Mr. Ashkenazy has been giving piano recitals, chamber and symphony concerts, appearing in chamber ensembles with such musicians as violinist Itzhak Perlman, cellist Lynn Harrell, singer Elisabeth Söderström and his son Dmitri, a renowned clarinetist. He has been a permanent guest conductor with the Philharmonic Orchestra and Royal Philharmonic in London, the Cleveland Orchestra and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. In January 1998, he was appointed First Conductor with the Czech Philharmonic in Prague, with which he went on several tours of Europe, Japan, the United States and Latin America.

As a pianist, Mr. Ashkenazy played concerts in Poland (not including his participation in the Warsaw competition) in 1957,1958 and 2000. As a conductor he has made several appearances with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra.

Mr. Ashkenazy has for decades been on contract with Decca. His discography includes the complete works of Chopin, Rachmaninov and Prokofiev, as well as a large number of piano, chamber and symphonic works of various composers from Bach to contemporary.

In celebration of the 150th anniversary of Chopin's death (1999), he held masterclasses in Berlin dedicated to the interpretation of Chopin's works.

He has sat in the jury of the Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 1990 (final stage) and the Géza Anda International Piano Competition in Zurich (1982), among others.

Stanisław Dybowski