Stephen Kovacevich
October 17, 1940
© David Thomas / EMI Classics
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Born in Los Angeles in 1940, Stephen Kovacevich began the piano at the age of eleven. He settled in England aged eighteen to study with Dame Myra Hess and lives there to the present day.
He regularly gives soloist performances with the Salzburg Camerata, the London, Los Angeles and Israel philharmonic orchestras, the Pittsburgh, Finnish Radio, Swedish Radio and Montreal symphony orchestras as well as recitals in Edinburgh, London, Paris, Amsterdam and Chicago. He regularly plays chamber music with Michael Collins, Lynn Harrell, Steven Isserlis and Emmanuel Pahud.
Since 1984, he has taken up the baton and conducted in particular the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. He regularly collaborates with the London Mozart Players, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Vancouver and Sydney symphony orchestras, the orchestras of Copenhagen, Lisbon and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. The Australian Chamber Orchestra has invited him as guest principal conductor.
Stephen Kovacevich has recorded for Philips, Onyx and EMI, amongst others the complete Beethoven Piano sonatas. His recording of Brahms First piano concerto with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch has won several prizes.
Recently he recorded Chopin's Waltzes and Ravel's Valses Nobles et sentimentales as well as pieces for flute and piano by Debussy, Ravel and Prokofiev with Emmanuel Pahud.