BRONFMAN, YEFIM

BRONFMAN, YEFIM (1958– ), Russian-born Israeli, later American pianist. Bronfman began his training with his mother, a piano teacher. When he was 15, the family immigrated to Israel. There he studied piano with arie vardi , then head of the Rubin Academy of Music in Tel Aviv. He made his international début with zubin mehta and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (1975). After his appearance in the Marlboro Music Festival in 1976, he immigrated to the U.S. He continued his studies at the Juilliard School in New York City and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, as a pupil of leon fleisher , William Masselos, and rudolf serkin . Noted for his commanding technique and exceptional lyrical gifts, Bronfman appeared with leading orchestras and conductors. He gave recitals in North America, Europe, and the Far East, and made acclaimed debuts in Carnegie Hall (1989) and Avery Fisher Hall (1993). In 1991 he gave a series of joint recitals with isaac stern in Russia. That same year he was awarded the Avery Fisher Prize. A devoted chamber music performer, Bronfman has collaborated with the Emerson, Cleveland, and Juilliard Quartets, as well as with Yo-Yo Ma, joshua bell , shlomo mintz , and pinchas zukerman . His expansive repertoire extends from Scarlatti to contemporary music. Among his recordings are the complete Prokofiev Piano Sonatas; all five of the Prokofiev Piano Concertos; and works by Rachmaninoff, Mussorgsky, Stravinsky, and Tchaikovsky. He won a Grammy award in 1997 for his recording of the three Bartok Piano Concertos.   Summer engagements have regularly taken him to the Aspen, Lucerne, Mostly Mozart, Ravinia, Salzburg, Tanglewood, and Verbier festivals. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Baker's Biographical Dictionary (1997); J. Rubinsky, in: Keyboard Classics, 9:5 (1989), 12–13; R. Dumm, in: Clavier 39 (July–Aug. 2000) 28–32. (Naama Ramot (2nd ed.)