America pianist Emanuel Ax is honoured by LPO

Emanuel Ax has been given a Lifetime Award for Musical Achievement by the American Friends of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The award recognises the achievements of musicians who have won acclaim and affection on both sides of the Atlantic.

Ax received the award in New York on 27 March at a ceremony which included performances by two of the LPO’s American musicians – co-leader Kevin Lin and principal viola David Quiggle – and by broadway singer Mario Frangoulis.

In a career spanning 45 years, Ax has given the world premieres of concertos by John Adams, H.K. Gruber and others. Brahms has been a foundational figure in his style, and his concerts and recordings of the concertos, chamber and solo piano music attest to a pianist for whom there is always more to say about this central figure in German Romanticism.

Timothy Walker, Chief Executive and Artistic Director of the LPO, said: 'It has been a pleasure and a privilege for the orchestra to have made music with an artist of the excellence and humility of Emanuel Ax. He first performed with the orchestra 25 years ago in 1993 at the Royal Festival Hall. He has presented some of the great concertos of the canon by Beethoven, Brahms and Mozart; he has also brought music by Stravinsky, Strauss and Haydn to our audiences. His Beethoven Fifth Concerto with Vladimir Jurowski in 2011 at Carnegie Hall lives fresh in the memory for all of us that were there. It is typical of Manny that when I first contacted him to offer his this accolade, he replied that I should find someone more deserving and that he would present the award to them.’

Ax remarked that ‘having worked with this Orchestra and its Principal Conductor Vladimir Jurowski over the years, including here in New York, it is clear to me that this is a magnificent artistic partnership.’

Watch Ax give a masterclass on Beethoven's 'Pastoral' Sonata: