Peter Serkin - Beethoven: Piano Concerto in D Major, Op. 61a (1971/2020)

Recognized as an artist of passion and integrity, the distinguished American pianist Peter Serkin is one of the most thoughtful and individualistic musicians appearing before the public today. Throughout his career, he has successfully conveyed the essence of five centuries of repertoire, and his performances are respected worldwide.
Serkin’s rich musical heritage extends back several generations: his grandfather was violinist and composer Adolf Busch and his father pianist Rudolf Serkin. In 1958, at age 11, he entered the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he was a student of Lee Luvisi, Mieczyslaw Horszowski, and Rudolf Serkin. He later continued his studies with Ernst Oster, Marcel Moyse, and Karl Ulrich Schnabel. In 1959 Serkin made his Marlboro Music Festival and New York City debuts with conductor Alexander Schneider; invitations to perform with the Cleveland Orchestra and George Szell in Cleveland and Carnegie Hall, and with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Eugene Ormandy in Philadelphia and Carnegie Hall, soon followed. He has since performed with the world’s major symphony orchestras. A dedicated chamber musician, Serkin has collaborated with Alexander Schneider; Pamela Frank; Yo-Yo Ma; the Budapest, Guarneri, and Orion string quartets; and TASHI, of which he was a founding member.
Serkin has been instrumental in bringing to life the music of Schoenberg, Webern, Berg, Stravinsky, Wolpe, Messiaen, Takemitsu, and Henze, among many others, to audiences around the world. He has performed world premieres that were written for him, in particular, works by Takemitsu, Lieberson, Knussen, Goehr, and Wuorinen. He recently played world premieres of Wuorinen’s Piano Concerto No. 4 with the Boston Symphony and James Levine in Boston, at Carnegie Hall, and Tanglewood, as well as Wuorinen’s fifth piano concerto, Time Regained, with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Levine, also at Carnegie Hall. He premiered a solo work by Elliott Carter, commissioned by Carnegie Hall and the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, in 2006; and Wuorinen’s Second Piano Quintet, commissioned by the Rockport Music Festival, with the Brentano String Quartet.
Serkin’s 2013–2014 season began with his debut at the BBC Proms, where his performance of Stravinsky’s Concerto for Piano, and Movements for Piano and Orchestra, received critical acclaim. In addition to diverse solo repertoire, he also appeared at major summer music festivals in the United States.
This season, Serkin tours with the Orion String Quartet in programs that include the piano quintets of Schumann, Dvorák, and Schoenberg. With the Boston Symphony, he performs the Brahms B-flat Concerto throughout the United States, and Beethoven’s first piano concerto in Göteborg. He will give recital performances in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Santa Monica, Detroit, and New York City (at the 92nd Street Y). The latter two presenters have commissioned a new work by Charles Wuorinen.
Serkin’s recording of the six Mozart concerti composed in 1784 with Alexander Schneider and the English Chamber Orchestra was nominated for a Grammy Award and received the prestigious Deutsche Schallplatten as well as Best Recording of the Year by Stereo Review magazine. Other Grammy-nominated recordings include Olivier Messiaen’s Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant Jesus and Quartet for the End of Time on BMG and a solo recording of works by Stravinsky, Wolpe, and Lieberson for New World Records.
Serkin currently teaches at The Bard College Conservatory of Music and the Longy School of Music of Bard College. He resides in Massachusetts with his wife, Regina, and is the father of five children.