Edward Auer (born December 7, 1941, in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

) is an American classical

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

. In 1965, he became the first American to win a prize in the

VII International Chopin Piano Competition The VII International Chopin Piano Competition () was held from 21 February to 16 March 1965 in Warsaw. The competition was won by Martha Argerich of Argentina, becoming the first and so far only South American winner. Awards The competitio ...

. Due to his frequent and subsequent touring in Poland, Mr. Auer is recognized worldwide as one of the leading interpreters of

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period who wrote primarily for Piano solo, solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown ...

. Auer has also displayed his consummate skill and broad repertoire—from Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and Schumann to Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, and others—while touring the U.S., Europe, and Asia. He is currently a Professor of Piano at the

Jacobs School of Music The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana, is a music conservatory established in 1921. Until 2005, it was known as the Indiana University School of Music. It has more than 1,500 students, approximately half of whom ar ...

of Indiana University in

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in Monroe County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. The population was 79,168 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-most populous city in Indiana and ...

Early life

While growing up in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, Auer studied piano under Aube Tzerko and composition with

Leonard Stein Leonard David Stein (December 1, 1916 – June 23, 2004) was an American musicologist, pianist, conductor and university teacher. He was influential in promoting contemporary music on the American West Coast. He was for years Arnold Schoenbe ...

. Auer continued his studies at the

Juilliard School of Music The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became the Juilliard School, named afte ...

under the tutelage of

Rosina Lhévinne Rosina Lhévinne (; (Бесси); March 29, 1880 – November 9, 1976) was a Russian and American pianist and famed pedagogue. Early life, education and family Rosina Bessie was the younger of two daughters of Maria (née Katz) and Jacques Bess ...

and for two years in Paris on a Fulbright Study Grant under

Julius Katchen Julius Katchen (August 15, 1926 – April 29, 1969) was an American concert pianist, possibly best known for his recordings of Johannes Brahms's solo piano works. Career Katchen was born in Long Branch, New Jersey, and debuted at age 10, play ...

. Cummings, Robert. "Edward Auer: Biography." Allmusic/ref>

Career

Auer won the

Young Concert Artists International Auditions Young Concert Artists is a New York City-based artist management company dedicated to discovering and advancing the careers of talented young classical musicians from around the world. The organization, founded in 1961, invites artists to auditio ...

in 1964 and was a prize winner at the prestigious

in 1965. He was the first American to win a prize at the latter competition. According to Robert Cummings at Allmusic, "The mid-'60s were a pivotal time for the young pianist: in 1964 he won the Young Concert Artists International Auditions; the following year he finished fifth in the Chopin Competition (Warsaw) and second in the Vienna-based Beethoven; he captured fifth in the 1966 Tchaikovsky (Moscow) and first in the 1967 Long-Thibaud Competition in Paris. In the midst of these successes, Auer made his debut at Carnegie Hall (1964) playing the Chopin Second Piano Concerto and launched his first U.S./Canadian tour (1965–1966), giving recitals and appearing with major orchestras like the Los Angeles Philharmonic." Since his 1964 New York debut in

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

under the auspices of

Young Concert Artists Young Concert Artists is a New York City-based artist management company dedicated to discovering and advancing the careers of talented young classical musicians from around the world. The organization, founded in 1961, invites artists to auditio ...

, Auer has spent his career playing extensively throughout the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, and

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, performing solo recitals and concerts in 30 countries, including the United States, Europe, Japan, Israel, and Australia. Since 1965, Auer has performed more than twenty tours in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

alone. According to his website, Auer has performed as a soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic; the Detroit, Atlanta, and Baltimore symphonies; NHK Tokyo; RIAS Orchestra Berlin; Orchestre National Paris; and many others.

Style

Auer is known to perform with a stoic demeanor. Herald Times music critic Peter Jacobi captures the essence of an Auer performance, "He plays with enviable force and clarity. The show of emotion so absent in his demeanor floods from his fingers."Jacobi, Peter. "A no-nonsense, almost combative approach of a master." ''Bloomington Herald-Times'' 2 Jul. 2008.

Recordings

Edward Auer has recorded for RCA Japan,

Toshiba EMI , formerly , was one of Japan's leading music companies. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of British music company EMI Group Ltd. on June 30, 2007, after Toshiba sold off its previous 45% stake. Its CEO and president was Kazuhiko Koike. When ...

Erato In Greek mythology, Erato (; ) is one of the Greek Muses, the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. The name would mean "desired" or "lovely", if derived from the same root as Eros, as Apollonius of Rhodes playfully sugge ...

, Camerata, TownHall, and other labels. In November 2008, Auer released his latest recording ''Chopin Nocturnes vol. 1'' on his privately owned and independent label, Culture Demain Recordings. Auer's first recording has received praise from classical music critic Harris Goldsmith, who says of ''Chopin Nocturnes vol. 1'', "Auer’s eloquence and technical powers have deepened and attained additional communicative and interpretative mastery, but this new anthology undoubtedly takes an honored place alongside the greatest extant editions of these copiously recorded masterpieces, e.g. Rubinstein’s c. 1938 versions, Ivan Moravec’s, and Tamas Vasary’s—to name my few favorites."Goldsmith, Harris. "NY Concert Review of Nocturnes Vol. 1." ''New York Concert Review'' Dec. 2008. In multiple interviews, Auer has stated that ''Chopin Nocturnes vol. 1'' is the first of eight volumes that he will release in celebration of

's life. He has also said that the Chopin project is purposely timed to coincide with the bicentennial celebration of Chopin's birth in 2010.

Selected discography

* ''Chopin: Two Piano Concertos'', 2010, Bloomington, IN: Culture/Demain Recordings; with

Shanghai Quartet The Shanghai Quartet is a string quartet that formed in 1983. The quartet is made up of: first violinist Weigang Li, second violinist Angelo Xiang Yu, violist Honggang Li, and cellist Nicholas Tzavaras. On November 20, 2020 the ensemble announc ...

* ''Chopin: Nocturnes vol. 2 and Four Scherzi'', 2008, Bloomington, IN: Culture/Demain Recordings * ''Chopin: Nocturnes vol. 1'', 2007, Bloomington, IN: Culture/Demain Recordings * ''Chopin: The Complete Waltzes (19 Waltzes)'', 1999, New York: Camerata Tokyo * ''Chopin: Four Ballades'', 1989, New York: Camerata Tokyo

Notes

External links

* * Edward Auer at Allmusic
Edward Auer's biography at the Fryderyk Chopin Institute

{{DEFAULTSORT:Auer, Edward 1941 births 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American classical pianists American male classical pianists American music educators Jacobs School of Music faculty Juilliard School alumni Living people Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competition prize-winners Musicians from New York City Prize-winners of the International Chopin Piano Competition Prize-winners of the Queen Elisabeth Competition Pupils of Leonard Stein