Born in Tel Aviv, Israel, Shmuel Ashkenasi attended the Musical Academy of Tel Aviv, giving his first public performance at the age of 8! Shmuel moved to the United States to study with the esteemed violinist Efrem Zimbalist at the Curtis Institute of Music, in Philadelphia, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Quite the dossier of awards to his credit, Ashkenasi won the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in 1961, and then in 1962 and won three top prizes in a row including the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, the Merriweather Post Competition in Washington, D.C., and the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition in Brussels.
Having literally toured the world from the Soviet Union, through Europe and the Far East, Ashkenasi has performed with famed orchestras throughout the globe. He has made many recordings, and one of the most lauded is the Paganini Violin Concertos No. 1 and No. 2 with the Vienna Symphony on the Deutsche Grammophon label.
Ashkenasi is one of the founders of the world-renowned chamber music group, The Vermeer Quartet. Formed in 1969, Ashkenasi has been its only first violinist, gaining repute as one of the world’s most outstanding chamber musicians.
Shmuel Askhenasi will be in concert with pianist Lolita Lisovskaya-Sayevich at the 1900 Building, 7:30 p.m. on October 11th. Tickets @ icm.park.edu.
