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by Linda Cajigas
On April 10, 2007, in a glamorous ceremony at New York City’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, violinist and Indiana University Jacobs School of Music alumnus and recent faculty appointee Joshua Bell was
introduced by actress Glenn Close as he accepted the coveted Avery Fisher Prize, one of the most prestigious awards in the classical music world.
Also recognized were
fellow alumni DaXun Zhang, double bassist, and Yura Lee, violinist, who each received a highly esteemed
Avery Fisher Career Grant. A Grant also went to the
Borromeo String Quartet, which includes violinist Kristopher Tong, who also studied at IU. The four artists thus became the latest in a long line of Jacobs “royalty” who have received honors from the Avery Fisher Artist Program. In all, 11 Avery Fisher award winners have studied at the Jacobs School and 2 award winners are currently on the school’s faculty—an unsurpassed pedigree.
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Joshua Bell celebrates his 2007 Prize with actress Glenn Close and Avery Fisher children Charles Avery Fisher (far left) and Nancy Fisher (far right) under the approving eye of the benefactor himself.
Photo by Henry Grossman |
Music benefactor Avery Fisher established Lincoln Center’s elite Avery Fisher Artist Program in 1974 to nurture young performers. The program includes the Avery Fisher Prize ($75,000 this year, originally $5,000) and the Avery Fisher Career Grant ($25,000 this year, originally $2,500), which are designed to give exceptional instrumentalists and chamber groups financial assistance and recognition on which to help them continue to build their careers. “Musicians . . . are like flowers that must bloom at a particular time,” said Fisher. “They have to be helped at the right moments.” Artists do not apply for these awards, reserved for U.S. citizens or permanent U.S. residents, and, in fact, have no idea they are even under consideration. Up to five Career Grants may be given each year, while the Prize is much more limited and not presented annually.
Bell’s mother, Shirley, recently recalled the beginning for her international-violin-sensation son. It was almost 30 years ago, and the family had just dropped the boy off at the renowned Meadowmount School of Music, then a summer school for young string players only. “I cried all the way home,” she said. At the tender age of 11, Joshua was among the youngest students at the seven-week intensive, and it was the first time he was on his own. It was also where he would experience an epiphany and begin to dedicate his life to the instrument he had first received at age four. “That summer at Meadowmount proved to be a deeply personal and profoundly changing experience for Josh,” noted Shirley. “He actually developed a true passion for the instrument and fell in love with the sound.”
Joshua also began to hear his own sound, thanks in large part to renowned violinist and Indiana University pedagogue Josef Gingold, who became his beloved teacher and mentor. A highly acclaimed orchestral debut with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra thrust Bell into the national limelight at the age of 14. Three years later, he made his Carnegie Hall debut with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO), conducted by recent Jacobs faculty appointee Leonard Slatkin. His first European tour, with Slatkin and the SLSO, quickly followed.
But it was winning the Avery Fisher Career Grant at age 18 (1986), the capstone of Bell’s early years, that was a primary catalyst for his international career. “The Avery Fisher Career Grant came at a pivotal time in Josh’s exciting early career. With a recent performance in Carnegie Hall and a European tour with the Saint Louis Symphony, the Grant was an affirmation of his talent and a pathway toward national recognition. Josh was very touched to be called personally by Avery Fisher. It’s probably one of those moments in life he’ll never forget, nor will I,” said mom, who recorded the call from Fisher. “His career really skyrocketed after that.”
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Joshua Bell celebrates his 1986 Career Grant with Avery Fisher and fellow awardees (front left to right) Matt Haimowitz, cello, and Ken Noda, piano. |
With a 1989 Artist Diploma from the Jacobs School of Music, where he began his IU studies at age eight with Mimi Zweig, director of IU’s String Academy, Bell soon received IU’s Distinguished Alumni Service Award, the Indiana Governor’s Award, and was named an Indiana Living Legend. In addition to numerous other awards, he went on to win three Grammys, the Mercury Music Prize, and Germany’s Echo Klassik. He received Billboard magazine’s 2004 Classical Artist of the Year honor with the Classical Album of the Year, Romance of the Violin. Bell was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame in 2005 and currently serves on the Artist Committee of the Kennedy Center Honors. Additionally, he has performed on some of film’s most breathtaking soundtracks, including Academy Award-winners The Red Violin and Iris, as well as Ladies in Lavender and Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story.
Also in 2007, Bell was named one of 250 Young Global Leaders by the World Economic Forum, which recognizes professional accomplishments, commitment to society, and potential contributions to shaping the future of the world.
And these are just some of the highlights.
Then, 21 years after the Career Grant and 28 years after the vision quest of Meadowmount, Shirley’s eyes, once again, welled with tears—this time, of joy and pride—for Joshua is the latest recipient of the even-more-prestigious Avery Fisher Prize. “I could not be more pleased or proud and am very grateful to the Program,” she said. “This is truly a most distinguished honor.”
Her virtuoso son echoed her sentiments, “For many years, I’ve watched with admiration how the Avery Fisher Program supports artists’ careers in the United States. With great care and understanding, the organization has fostered and assisted some of the best and brightest musicians in America. It is now both exciting and humbling to be the 2007 recipient of the Avery Fisher Prize. As with my first experience of an Avery Fisher award, I am inspired and thankful to be thought worthy of such consideration.”
Bell’s name joins those of the 18 previous Prize recipients on the exclusive marble plaque in Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall.
Double bassist DaXun Zhang, a former student of Department of Strings Chair Lawrence Hurst, joined Bell, Lee, and Tong as a 2007 award winner at the April 10 festivities in the Big Apple, where, for the first time, both the Prize and Grants were celebrated on the same occasion, and all of the Grant winners performed.
Among numerous other awards, Zhang was the youngest artist ever to win the International Society of Bassists Solo Competition, in 2001. In 2003, he was the first double bass player to win the Young Concert Artists Auditions, as well as the first double bassist ever to win First Prize in the WAMSO (Women’s Auxiliary of the Minnesota Symphony Orchestra) competition.
With six other bassists in his family, embracing the instrument at the age of six seemed natural. Zhang began his formal studies at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing at the age of 11, continued in the United States at the Interlochen Arts Academy, and received his Artist Diploma from the Jacobs School. At the ripe young age of 26, he is currently on the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin.
Zhang reacted to the Grant, “I have heard about the Avery Fisher Career Grant ever since I came to the States almost 10 years ago, and I never imagined that someday I would be a recipient. When I got a phone call from the Avery Fisher Artist Program about this award, I couldn’t describe by words how excited I was, and I still cannot get over it. As a double bass player, I know how difficult it is for the bass to be accepted as a solo instrument, and it has been my dream to have a career as a performing artist. The Avery Fisher Career Grant not only assists me financially but also gives me more hope and encouragement to continue to do what I believe in.”
He warmly remembered his time in Bloomington, “My years at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music were probably the most important of my life. I would like to thank everyone there who inspired me through my musical journeys, especially my teacher, Lawrence Hurst. I believe that without him, I would not have accomplished what I have today.”
Violinist Yura Lee shares the Fisher spotlight with her fellow Jacobs collegians this year. Among many other accomplishments, Lee won First Prize in the 6th International Leopold Mozart Violin Competition in May 2006, as well as winning the competition’s Audience Prize and the Young Musician’s Jury Prize. She went on to place fourth in the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis in September 2006. Lee studied at Jacobs as a teenager with Miriam Fried and Paul Biss, prompting Biss to remark that she is possibly the best student he has ever heard. Apparently, his enthusiasm is well founded.
Kristopher Tong accepted the Grant as a member of the Borromeo String Quartet, one of the most sought-after string quartets in the world. He received his bachelor’s degree from Indiana University, where he studied with Franco Gulli, Yuval Yaron, and Miriam Fried. Emerging as one of the most intriguing musicians of his generation, he joined the quartet in March 2006.
| “It’s thrilling to know that we have connections to
all four awards. Such is the wonder of this artistic
incubator, this nurturing community we call Bloomington.”—Dean Gwyn Richards |
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Following the event, IU Jacobs School of Music Dean Gwyn Richards commented, “Being in attendance at this evening’s event reveals the importance of Avery Fisher and his family to the cultural life of our nation, as well as the impact of performance, pedagogy, and research at Indiana University. It’s thrilling to know that we have connections to all four awards. Such is the wonder of this artistic incubator, this nurturing community we call Bloomington.”
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Edgar Meyer |
Boundary-transcending double bassist Edgar Meyer preceded Bell: as the only other Jacobs alumn to have won both awards, he brought home the Career Grant in 1994 and the Prize in 2000, becoming the first bassist to have won either. “Both the Career Grant and the Prize were and are overwhelming. The high regard that I have for both the committee and the previous winners gives me something very inspiring to live up to. The awards also helped give me a little more confidence that the double bass might be viable in a broader context,” said Meyer, who studied with Stuart Sankey while at IU. A broader context, indeed, as the wildly successful bass man is well known for his fruitful and often genre-crossing collaborations. Whether it is as a solo classical bassist with the likes of Bell, Gary Hoffman, and Yo-Yo Ma or performing with James Taylor, the Indigo Girls, Béla Fleck, or legendary bluegrass musicians Sam Bush and Mike Marshall, Meyer is the consummate virtuoso.
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André Watts |
Completing the triad of Avery Fisher Prize-winners affiliated with the Jacobs School of Music is one of the world’s most celebrated pianists, André Watts, Professor of Music and Jack I. and Dora B. Hamlin Endowed Chair in Music, who joined the Jacobs faculty in 2004 through Indiana University’s Commitment to Excellence program.
Remarked Watts, “When the Avery Fisher Prize was given to me (1988), it was mostly an honoring acknowledgement of my career, which was already ‘quite old’ by then. I donated the prize money because it didn’t seem appropriate to keep it at that stage in my life, even though I was very happy to be remembered in that fashion!” Watts continues to give numerous recitals and performs with the world’s major orchestras and conductors, while making frequent visits to the major summer music festivals and regular television appearances.
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Tai Murray |
“I want to play the violin, mommy,” said two-year-old Tai Murray to her mother, Ellen Murray. “I was shocked,” said Ellen. Three years later, Tai took her first lesson at the Sherwood Conservatory of Music in Chicago and, at age nine, made her successful solo debut with the Chicago Symphony. She received her Artist Diploma from the Jacobs School in 2000, where she studied with Stanley Ritchie, before completing a three-year diploma program at Juilliard, then going on to a two-year residency program at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
Now only 25, Murray received the Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2004. “The greatest thing was to be included in a group of such talented musicians who are so outstanding in their fields,” observed Murray. “When that happens, you know you’re on the right track, and it really affirms what you are doing. I was extremely surprised to get the call (from Charles Avery Fisher) and quite blown away. Although there was a financial prize attached to it, which was extremely helpful, it has really helped as a networking tool to get onstage as much as possible, which is critical to professional development.”
“Tai’s mother brought her to study Baroque repertoire with me when she was a child,” remembered former teacher Ritchie. “Teaching her was such a pleasure, for she was not only a gifted violinist, but an instinctively musical person who readily absorbed what I had to offer. Beyond her basic talent, though, Tai is one of the most dignified and gracious young people I have ever met, and these traits suffuse her music-making and elevate it to a very special plane.
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Frederic Chiu |
The Jacobs Department of Piano is well represented in this award-winning group. In addition to Watts’s Prize, three former students have garnered the Career Grant: Frederic Chiu in 1996, Jeremy Denk in 1998, and Jonathan Biss in 1999. All three have gone on to immensely successful international careers.
“The Career Grant came at a crucial time for me, when I was desperately looking for regular practice space in Paris,” recalled Chiu. “With the Grant, I was able to set up a dedicated studio for working. The Avery Fisher committee had no idea that I was looking right at that time, but it was as if they read my mind. My time in Paris was critical to my musical and personal development, and having the space to work allowed me to extend that time as long as I needed and wanted.”
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Jeremy Denk |
A former student of IU’s Karen Shaw, Chiu has recorded over 20 CDs and collaborated with musicians including Bell, Gary Hoffman, Pierre Amoyal, and the St. Lawrence and Shanghai String Quartets, as well as creating unique collaborations with non-musicians such as Shakespearean actor Brian Bedford and psychologist/writer/clown Howard Buten.
Denk, who recently performed in Bloomington with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, enjoys a thriving performance career as a recitalist and concerto soloist, while serving on the faculty of the Bard College Conservatory of Music. An avid collaborator, he has worked with several leading string quartets, including Borromeo, Brentano, Colorado, and Shanghai and recently completed a tour with fellow alumnus Bell. Winning the 1997 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, followed by the 1998 Career Grant, helped launch his international career. Denk studied with Distinguished Professor György Sebök at IU and later became a member of the faculty himself for several years.
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Jonathan Biss |
Biss reflected, “Winning the Avery Fisher Career Grant (AFCG) was a very important moment in my career. I’ve never done competitions, finding them not encouraging of the right sort of musical spirit, but I think the idea of giving an award which boosts the career of a young artist, without forcing him or her to compete for it (therefore without creating any losers in the process) is a fantastic idea. The AFCG was also a recognition bestowed by a very distinguished collection of professionals, which was a huge confidence boost. I can’t imagine anything more helpful when one is just getting started.”
Biss, whose primary pedagogue at IU was Evelyne Brancart, recently displayed that confidence in a New York City recital, prompting The New Yorker magazine to proclaim, “There’s something almost surreal in the sight and sound of a 26-year-old playing with such unerring sophistication ... why would he want to play differently when he is so close to perfection?”
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Sharon Robinson |
A trio of cellists rounds out this distinguished club.
Sharon Robinson, appointed to the Jacobs faculty in 2005, is a 1979–1980 Grant (formerly called Recital Award) winner. In addition to teaching, Robinson currently performs with her husband, violinist and conductor Jaime Laredo, and tours as a co-founder with the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio. The 2006–2007 season marked the 30th anniversary of both partnerships. Her television appearances have included The Tonight Show, The Today Show, The Kennedy Center Honors on CBS, and a profile on CBS Sunday Morning.
Robinson looked back fondly, “Receiving the Grant lent a great deal of legitimacy to my career and gave me the gravitas to play with big conductors and orchestras. I was thrilled, absolutely thrilled. And the money that came with the award was a godsend! I used the money to commission After Reading Shakespeare by Ned Rorem—the first of many commissions and the first performances that Ned and I shared. This is a piece that has been taken into the heart of the solo cello repertoire, and I am very proud to have premiered it, thanks, in large part, to Avery Fisher.”
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Mark Kosower |
Mark Kosower, who studied with Janos Starker while at IU, received the Grant in 2002. “I was honored to be a recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant. To be recognized by some of the leading musicians and others in the music field was an overwhelming experience. I am very grateful for the recognition and exposure the Avery Fisher Career Grant has given me,” he commented. Kosower is currently solo cellist of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra in Germany and professor of cello and chamber music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
At the age of 22, 1995 Grant-winner Gary Hoffman became the youngest faculty appointee in the history of the Jacobs School of Music, where he remained for eight years. Also a Starker protégé, Hoffman achieved international renown in 1986, following his victory as the first American to win the Rostropovich International Cello Competition in Paris, where he currently resides. He returns to his alma mater often to give master classes and guest recitals. Hoffman’s many collaborations include projects with Bell, Meyer, and Béla Fleck.
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Gary Hoffman |
When an artist reaches such luminary status as many who have passed through the Jacobs School of Music doors have, it is sometimes easy to forget that it wasn’t always that way. Most have striven, struggled, and sacrificed a great deal along the way, just like successful individuals in any profession.
However, the vision and generosity of one man have helped not only these Fisher kings and queens to realize their dreams, but have enabled us listeners to be included in and transported by those dreams to A-very magical place. •
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