Stefan Jackiw, Violin & Anna Polonsky, Piano

Jackiw is no stranger to capturing the limelight on short notice.  In recent years, he has replaced cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and violinists Lisa Batiashvili and Pam Frank, catapulting his career onto an international stage.  Hailed for “talent that’s off the scale” (Washington Post), he has appeared as soloist with the Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras, among others, and he has collaborated with such renowned conductors as Marin Alsop, Andrew Davis, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Mikhail Pletnev, and Yuri Temirkanov. His solo performance of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with the YouTube Symphony Orchestra at Australia’s Sydney Opera House in March was seen live on YouTube by more than 30 million people worldwide. On disc, Jackiw is garnering acclaim for his debut album of the Brahms Violin Sonatas with pianist Max Levinson (Sony). Fanfare magazine proclaimed, “Jackiw is fantastic. …This is now the recording of Brahms’s violin sonatas to have.”   Jackiw made his European debut age 14 to great critical acclaim, playing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra. His sensational performance was featured on the front page of London’s Times, and the Strad reported, “A 14-year-old violinist took the London music world by storm.” Now, at age 30, he is well on his way to joining ranks with the world’s great violinists.  In 2014 his performances were mentioned among the top ten classical music events of the year in The Boston Globe and the Chicago Sun Times.  Born in 1985 to physicist parents of Korean and German descent, Stefan Jackiw began playing the violin at the age of four. His teachers have included Zinaida Gilels, Michèle Auclair, and Donald Weilerstein. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University, as well as an Artist Diploma from the New England Conservatory. In 2002, the young artist was awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant.

Anna Polonsky, Jackiw’s regular duo partner, was heard this season on our series as a member of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s “Meet the Music” concert for families. She made her solo piano debut at the age of seven at the Special Central Music School in Moscow, Russia. She emigrated to the United States in 1990, and attended high school at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. She received her Bachelor of Music diploma from The Curtis Institute of Music, where she worked with the renowned pianist Peter Serkin, and continued her studies with Jerome Lowenthal, earning her Master’s Degree from The Juilliard School. In addition to performing, she serves on the piano faculty of Vassar College. She has been a member of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Chamber Music Two program.