Stephen kovacevich biography
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Chamber music partners include Jacqueline du Pré, Martha Argerich, Steven Isserlis, Nigel Kennedy, Lynn Harrell, Sarah Chang, Gautier Capuçon, Renaud Capuçon, Kyung-Wha Chung and Emmanuel Pahud. He has won warm praise for his work with many of the world’s finest orchestras, including the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, London Mozart Players, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra and Tapiola Sinfonietta.
He has won unsurpassed admiration for his interpretations of the core classical repertoire, including J.S. Bach, W.A. Mozart (he has played all of W.A. Mozart's concertos), L.v. Beethoven, F. Schubert, Robert Schumann, E. Grieg, Johannes Brahms and Béla Bartók. During the 2008-2009 season he has a mini-residency of J. Brahms and B.
Bartók chamber music at the Wigmore Hall. Finally, in 1991, he decided to use just the Croatian surname, using the name Stephen Kovacevich. Kovacevich was the third husband of the pianist Martha Argerich, with whom he still performs. In 1975 he began to use the name Stephen Bishop-Kovacevich, adding his Croatian mother's surname, Kovacevich, just in time to avoid confusion with popular singer-songwriter Stephen Bishop.
They had two sons, Matt Bishop (an English journalist, author, novelist and public relations executive working in international motor racing) and Foff Bishop (a fireman). Recent and upcoming recital highlights include the Mariinsky International Piano Festival (by invitation of Valery Gergiev), Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, the prestigious Phillips Collection in Washington, the Singapore International Piano Festival, the renowned Pyeong Chang ‘Great Mountains’ Festival in South Korea (with Kyung-Wha Chung), the Beijing National Centre for Performing Arts, the Les Rencontres Musicales d’Évian festival, and the Istanbul Recital Series.
He made his concert debut as a pianist at the age of 11.
Then, at the age of 18 he moved to London to study under Dame Myra Hess on a scholarship and has been a London resident ever since, currently living in Hampstead.
In 1961 he made a sensational European debut at the Wigmore Hall, playing the Sonata by Alban Berg, three Bach Preludes and Fugues and Beethoven"s Diabelli Variations.
He has given master classes and recitals at Dartington International Summer School for many years.
The distinguished American pianist and conductor, Stephen Kovacevich, was born to a Croatian father and an American mother. From 1990 to 1993 he was music director of the Irish Chamber Orchestra in Dublin. In addition, he has forged many longstanding professional relationships, most notably with Colin Davis with whom he made numerous outstanding recordings, including the legendary Bartok Piano Concerto No.2 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
Duo performance with Martha Argerich include the Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles, the Philharmonie de Paris, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Victoria Hall in Geneva, Flagey in Brussels and the Gulbenkian in Lisbon.
When he was 14, he played Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major and Robert Schumann's Piano Concerto in A minor with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.
Stephen Kovacevich has enjoyed an illustrious long-term relationship with recording companies Philips and EMI. To celebrate his 75th birthday, Decca has released a Limited Edition 25 CD Box Set of his entire recorded legacy for Philips.
Background
Stephen Kovacevich was born in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California, to a Croatian father and an American mother.
Career
He later discovered that he was often being confused with the singer and guitarist Stephen Bishop. The CD is coupled with J.S. Bach's Partita No.
4 (BWV 828), his first J.S. Bach recording and was released in January 2009.
Stephen Kovacevich has been a London resident since the early 1960's, and is currently living in Hampstead.
In 1967, he made his New York debut and since then he has toured Europe, the United States, the Far East, Australia, New Zealand and South America.
As a soloist and conductor, he has frequently performed and recorded works by, amongst others, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms and Bartók.
He has directed the London Mozart Players, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in this way.
He has appeared as a soloist with many of the major European and North American orchestras, as a recitalist, and as a chamber music artist. In 2008 Stephen Kovacevich recorded Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations exactly 40 years after his first recording of the work. He also toured Britain with Jacqueline du Pré.
They had two sons, Matt Bishop (a director of the McLaren Formula 1 team) and Foff Bishop (a West Sussex fireman).