Name Shmuel Ashkenasi Role Violinist | ||
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Albums Quartet for the End of Time, Forellenquintett / Streichquartett Nr. 14 „Der Tod und das Madchen“ Nominations Juno Award for Classical Album of the Year – Solo or Chamber Ensemble Similar People Vladimir Ashkenazy, Ilya Kaler, Gustav Rivinius, Gidon Kremer, Van Cliburn | ||
Keshet eilon 2012 shmuel ashkenasi violin masterclass
Shmuel Ashkenasi (Hebrew: שמואל אשכנזי; born January 11, 1941) is an Israeli violinist and teacher.
Contents
- Keshet eilon 2012 shmuel ashkenasi violin masterclass
- Heifetz 2018 Shmuel Ashkenasi Dina Vainshtein Sibelius Pieces for Violin and Piano
- Biography
- Career
- Vermeer Quartet
- Pedagogue
- References

Heifetz 2018: Shmuel Ashkenasi & Dina Vainshtein | Sibelius: Pieces for Violin and Piano
Biography

Born in Tel Aviv on January 11, 1941, he began his musical training at the Musical Academy of Tel-Aviv studying with legendary pedagogue Ilona Feher, the teacher of such violinists as Pinchas Zuckerman and Shlomo Mintz. He arrived in the United States while still young and studied with Efrem Zimbalist at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Career

Ashkenasi won the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in 1961 and in 1962 captured top prizes at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, Russia, the Merriweather Post Competition in Washington, D.C., and the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition in Belgium. As a soloist, he has toured the Soviet Union twice and plays concerts every year throughout Europe, Israel and the Far East. He has performed with American orchestras such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, National Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony, Vienna Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, and the orchestras of Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Zurich, Rotterdam, Geneva and Stockholm.

Among his solo recordings are the Paganini Violin Concertos No. 1 and No. 2 with the Vienna Symphony on the Deutsche Grammophon label, the two Beethoven Romances, and the Mozart A Major Concerto.
Vermeer Quartet
In 1969, Ashkenasi formed the Vermeer Quartet at the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont and remained as its first violinist throughout the quartet's career. The Vermeer Quartet held residencies at Northern Illinois University and at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England. Its discography includes works of Beethoven, Bartók, Brahms, Dvořák, Haydn (a Grammy-nominated recording of the Seven Last Words of Christ, produced by the violist of the quartet, Richard Young), Schubert, Schnittke, Tchaikovsky, and Verdi.
Pedagogue
Ashkenasi is also a noted pedagogue, currently holding the posts of Professor of Violin at Bard College Conservatory of Music, Roosevelt University's Chicago College of Performing Arts and the Curtis Institute of Music. His students include Viviane Hagner, Gwendolyn Masin, Josep Colomé and Gerhard Schulz.