András Schiff Knighted
Pianist Sir András Schiff has been awarded Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in the 2014 Birthday Honours. With regard to the recent announcement, BBC News commented, “Schiff has been hailed as the greatest musician Hungary has produced since the composers Bela Bartok and Zoltan Kodaly. Alongside his brilliance as a pianist, he has a reputation as one of the great musical thinkers. His lectures on Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas remain a central tenet of music broadcasting.”
A British citizen since 2001, Sir András Schiff, was recently awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal in December 2013 and the International Classical Music Award 2012, in the category “Solo Instrumental Recording of the Year” for his recording of “Geistervariationen” with works by Robert Schumann (ECM). Recitals and special cycles, such as the major keyboard works of J.S. Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann and Bartók, form an important part of his activities. Since 2004 he has performed complete cycles of the 32 Beethoven Piano Sonatas in 20 cities, and the cycle in the Zurich Tonhalle was recorded live.
Beginning in February 2015, his next project in the United States will be the final sonatas of Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert presented in the cities of New York, Washington, DC, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver, and Ann Arbor.
Learn more about András Schiff here
