Yvar Emilian Mikhashoff (born Ronald Mackay; March 8, 1941 in

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Ç ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * ...

– October 11, 1993 in Buffalo,

) was an American virtuoso pianist and composer. He is best known for his performance of

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included seri ...

. Mikhashoff studied at the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman. It offers Bachelor of Music ( ...

, the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most eli ...

, and the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

, and received his doctorate in composition from the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

in 1972. He also studied in France with

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher and conductor. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organist. From a ...

. He served as Professor of Music at the

University at Buffalo, The State University of New York The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public university, public research university with campuses in Buffalo, New York, Buffalo and Amherst, New Yor ...

from 1973 until his death from

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

, in 1993, aged 52. From 1983 to 1991 he commissioned no fewer than 127 tangos for solo piano from 127 composers. Mikhashoff was considered one of the leading performers of contemporary piano music of his day. He worked closely with composers all over the world, including leading figures like

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading f ...

Morton Feldman Morton Feldman (January 12, 1926 – September 3, 1987) was an American composer. A major figure in 20th-century classical music, Feldman was a pioneer of indeterminate music, a development associated with the experimental New York School ...

Giacinto Scelsi Giacinto Francesco Maria Scelsi (; 8 January 1905 – 9 August 1988, sometimes cited as 8 August 1988) was an Italian composer who also wrote surrealist poetry in French. He is best known for having composed music based around only one pitch, ...

Per Nørgård Per Nørgård (; born 13 July 1932) is a Danish composer and music theorist. Though his style has varied considerably throughout his career, his music has often included repeatedly evolving melodies—such as the infinity series—in the vein ...

, Poul Ruders, and numerous others. In addition to his performance schedule, he also did a lot of artistic advisory work, like working with

Pierre Audi Pierre Audi (born 1957 in Beirut, Lebanon) is a French-Lebanese theatre director and artistic director. Early life Audi is the son of the Lebanese banker Raymond Audi and Andrée Michel Fattal, the eldest of three children.Almeida Festival in London, for many years the leading London venue for contemporary music programming, and likewise at the formation of the Music Factory festival in Bergen, Norway, with Geir Johnson. A complete archive of Mikhashoff's works is held by the Music Library of University at Buffalo Libraries at the

. In 1996 the
Yvar Mikhashoff Trust for New Music
was established to support composers and performers of new music. Past notable recipients include: The Barton Workshop, New Music Consort, North/South Consonance, Nick Fortunato, and Daniel N. Seel The four CD set "Yvar Mikhashoff's Panorama of American Piano Music" presents one of Mikhashoff's marathon concerts on a single theme. It explores the diversity of 20th century American music, including serialism, minimalism, populist and avant garde experimentalism. His arrangements of extracts from

Puccini Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, 22 December 1858 Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long l ...

operas have been recorded by the French pianist

Jean-Yves Thibaudet Jean-Yves Thibaudet (born 7 September 1961)Michael & Joyce Kennedy, 2007. is a French pianist. Early life and studies Jean-Yves Thibaudet was born in Lyon, France, to non-professional musical parents. His father played the violin, and his mother, ...

References

Mode Records

External links

from the Music Library - University at Buffalo Libraries
Yvar Mikhashoff Photograph Collection
from the University at Buffalo Libraries
Yvar Mikhashoff page
from The Estate Project American classical pianists American male pianists 1941 births 1993 deaths Musicians from Troy, New York American male classical composers American classical composers 20th-century classical composers Contemporary classical music performers University of Houston alumni University of Texas at Austin College of Fine Arts alumni AIDS-related deaths in New York (state) 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American composers Classical musicians from New York (state) 20th-century American male musicians {{US-classical-pianist-stub