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Garrick Ohlsson

Garrick Olaf Ohlsson (born April 3, 1948) is an American classical pianist.[1] In 1970 Ohlsson became the first, and remains the only, competitor from the United States to win the gold medal awarded by the International Chopin Piano Competition, at the VIII competition.[2] He also won first prize at the Busoni Competition in Bolzano, Italy[3] and the Montreal Piano Competition in Canada. He was awarded the Avery Fisher Prize in 1994[4] and received the 1998 University Musical Society Distinguished Artist Award in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Ohlsson has also been nominated for three Grammy Awards, winning one in 2008.

Garrick Ohlsson

(1948-04-03) April 3, 1948
Bronxville, New York

Classical

Piano

In 2018, in Warsaw, Ohlsson received the Gloria Artis Medal for Merit to Culture, conferred by the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.[5]

Early life[edit]

Born in Bronxville, New York as the only child of a Swedish father, Alvar Ohlsson, who emigrated from Sweden after World War II, and Sicilian-American mother, Paulyne (Rosta), born in New York City, Ohlsson grew up in White Plains, New York. He began his piano studies at the age of eight with Tom Lishman, at the Westchester Conservatory of Music.[6] At the age of 13 he began studying with Sascha Gorodnitzki at the Juilliard School, and later with Rosina Lhévinne. His musical development has been influenced in completely different ways by a succession of distinguished teachers, most notably Claudio Arrau, Olga Barabini and Irma Wolpe.[7]


Although Ohlsson is especially noted for his performances of the works of Chopin, Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt and Schubert, his range of repertoire is broad, extending from Bach and Busoni to Copland, Griffes, Debussy, Scriabin, Gershwin, Rachmaninov, and contemporary composers who have written new works for him, such as Justin Dello Joio. Writing in The New York Times, music critic Allan Kozinn has characterized Ohlsson's repertory as "huge."[8] His repertoire includes no fewer than 80 concertos. He is also known for his exceptional keyboard stretch (a 12th in the left hand and an 11th in the right).[9]

Career[edit]

Ohlsson has performed in North America with symphony orchestras of Atlanta, Charlotte, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Boston, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Houston, Detroit, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Seattle, Denver, Washington, D.C., and Berkeley, among others, at the National Arts Center, with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and with the London Philharmonic at Lincoln Center in New York. He has also accompanied violinist Hilary Hahn and contralto Ewa Podles.[10]


Ohlsson is an avid chamber musician, having collaborated with the Cleveland, Emerson, Takács and Tokyo string quartets, in addition to other ensembles. In 2005–2006, he toured with the Takács Quartet. He is also a founding member of San Francisco's FOG Trio, together with violinist Jorja Fleezanis and cellist Michael Grebanier.[11]


In 2006–2007, he played the opening concert at the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York. He has also performed at the BBC Proms with the Budapest Festival Orchestra.


Among his many recordings, Ohlsson[12] performed Chopin's entire musical output on Hyperion Records–including the complete solo piano music, chamber music, works for piano and orchestra, and songs. In 1989, he recorded Busoni's five-movement Piano Concerto in C major, Op. 39 with the Cleveland Orchestra under Christoph von Dohnányi.[13] He has also recorded all 32 Beethoven piano sonatas for Bridge Records.[14]


Shortly after his Chopin competition victory in 1970, he appeared as performing guest on ABC's The Dick Cavett Show on 25 February 1971. The show also featured actor/singer Sammy Davis Jr., and young Family Affair actress Anissa Jones.

First Prize, 1966 , Bolzano

Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition

First Prize, 1968 [17]

Montreal Piano Competition

First Prize, 1970 , Warsaw

VIII International Chopin Piano Competition

Avery Fisher Prize, 1994

Grammy Award, 2008

[18]

Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano Performance, 2014,

Northwestern University

2018[5]

Gloria Artis Medal for Merit to Culture

(with Takács Quartet), 2021[19]

Gramophone Award

Arabesque Recordings

RCA Red Seal Records

Angel Records

Bridge Records

BMG

Decca

Delos International

Hänssler Classic

– complete works of Chopin

Hyperion Records

Nonesuch Records

Telarc

EMI Classics

Connoisseur Society

Ohlsson has recorded with the following labels:

Garrick Ohlsson's official website

at Opus3 Artists

Garrick Ohlsson

on YouTube, WNCN-FM, September 20, 1981

David Dubal interview with Garrick Ohlsson

on YouTube

W.F.E. Bach's Das Dreyblatt for 6 hands (performed hilariously by Alicia de Larrocha, Gina Bachauer and Ohlsson)