Biography
Jeffrey Kahane
Equally at home at the keyboard or on the podium, Jeffrey Kahane has established an international reputation as a truly versatile artist, recognized by audiences around the world for his mastery of a diverse repertoire ranging from Bach, Mozart and Beethoven to Gershwin, Golijov and John Adams.
Since making his Carnegie Hall debut in 1983, Mr. Kahane has given recitals in many of the nation's major music centers including New York, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Atlanta. He appears as soloist with major orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic and the Leipzig Gewandhaus, and is also a popular figure at summer festivals including Aspen, Ravinia, Blossom, Caramoor, Mostly Mozart, Oregon Bach and the Hollywood Bowl. Mr. Kahane is equally well-known for his collaborations with artists and chamber ensembles such as Yo-Yo Ma, Dawn Upshaw, Joshua Bell, Thomas Quasthoff and the Emerson and Takacs Quartets.
Jeffrey Kahane made his conducting debut at the Oregon Bach Festival in 1988. Since then he has guest conducted orchestras such as the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics, Philadelphia Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Academy of St. Martin's in the Fields, and the Chicago, Toronto, Detroit, St. Louis, Houston, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Dallas and New World symphonies among others. Currently in his 14th season as Music Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Mr. Kahane concluded his tenure as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony in June 2010 and was Music Director of the Santa Rosa Symphony for ten seasons. He has received much recognition for his innovative programming and commitment to education and community involvement with all three orchestras and received 2007ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming for his work in both Los Angeles and Denver.
In addition to his programs and projects with LACO, highlights of Mr. Kahane's 10/11 season include appearances at the Aspen, Ravinia, Music Academy of the West, Verbier and Oregon Bach festivals; concerto appearances with the Toronto, Cincinnati and Dallas symphonies; play/conduct programs with the San Francisco Symphony and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa; US tours with violinist Daniel Hope and with the Takacs Quartet; an appearances with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center; and a European tour with the Camerata Salzburg as conductor and soloist. Mr. Kahane also conducts the Juilliard Orchestra at Lincoln Center in October 2010.
Jeffrey Kahane's recordings include works of Gershwin and Bernstein with Yo-Yo Ma for SONY, Paul Schoenfield's "Four Parables" with the New World Symphony conducted by John Nelson for Decca/Argo, the Strauss "Burleske" on Telarc with the Cincinnati Symphony under Jesus Lopez-Cobos, and the complete Brandenburg Concerti (on harpsichord) with the Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra under Helmuth Rilling on the Haenssler label. He has also recorded the complete works for violin and piano by Schubert with Joseph Swensen for RCA, Bach's Sinfonias and Partita #4 in D Major for Nonesuch and Bernstein's "Age of Anxiety" for Virgin Records, which was nominated by Gramophone magazine for their "Record of the Year" award.
A native of Los Angeles and a graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Mr. Kahane's early piano studies were with Howard Weisel and Jakob Gimpel. First Prize winner at the 1983 Rubinstein Competition and a finalist at the 1981 Van Cliburn Competition, he was also the recipient of a 1983 Avery Fisher Career Grant and the first Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award in 1987.
Jeffrey Kahane resides in Santa Rosa with his wife, Martha, a clinical psychologist in private practice. They have two children - Gabriel, a composer, pianist and singer/songwriter and Annie, a dancer and poet.