Boris Berman

Boris Berman is a Russian pianist and pedagogue (b. Moscow, April 3, 1948).

He was a student of Lev Oborin at the Moscow Conservatory. He made his debut in Moscow in 1965. He joined an early music ensemble, at the time the only one in Russia, as a harpsichordist. At the same time he worked with contemporary composers such as Alfred Schnittke and Edison Denisov. He played in the first Russian performances of works by Arnold Schoenberg, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Luciano Berio and György Ligeti.

In 1973 he was permitted to leave the Soviet Union for Israel. In 1979 he migrated to the U.S. and has since taught at Boston University, Brandeis University, Indiana University, and the Yale School of Music. He has recorded the complete piano works of Sergei Prokofiev for the Chandos label among other recordings.

He has also written on these works; Prokofiev's Piano Sonatas was published by Yale University Press in 2008.

References

• Nicolas Slonimsky, ed., Baker's Biographical Dictionary of 20th Century Classical Musicians, Ninth Edition, Schirmer Books, 1997
• Yale Pantheon Press website
• Barney Zwartz, A masterclass in Prokofiev, The Age, 5 July 2008