Ronald Turini

Ronald Turini (born 30 September 1934, Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian pianist. He made his professional debut at age ten, with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. At sixteen, and holding a scholarship from the Conservatoire de Musique du Quebec, Turini met Vladimir Horowitz. Horowitz was sufficiently impressed to take him on as a student.^[1]

In 1961, Turini made his American debut at Carnegie Hall. That same year, he performed Schumann's Piano Concerto with the Montreal Symphony under Zubin Mehta, in which Turini was praised for his "passion and power" and "placid sensitivity".^[2]

Since his exciting US debut in New York's Carnegie Hall on January 24, 1961, he has captivated audiences and critics alike both in North America and abroad. He has been the soloist with many major orchestras including the Chicago, National, Toronto and Montreal Symphonies and in Europe with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony and Leningrad Philharmonic. He later returned to Carnegie Hall in 1964 and 1967.

The following year in 1968 his recording of the Hindemith Sonata for Viola and Piano was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance. Other nominees include Julian Bream, Jasha Heifetz, and Isaac Stern.

He has made three tours of Russia (first Canadian), three tours of South America, and two tours of Japan. His artistry has triumphed in key cities of Europe including Paris, London, Vienna, Brussels, and Amsterdam. In North America his record is equally impressive, with recitals and orchestral engagements in cities such as New York, Chicago.

Gramophone, reviewing his 1965 RCA Red Seal recording, lauded Turini as "a pianist of uncommon ability" with a "range of colour...which straightaway marks him out from so many pianists".^[3]

Turini made his Boston debut in 1969 for the Peabody Mason Concert series, and returned in 1971.^[4] He was the first Canadian artist to win a prize at the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition of Belgium, at the Concorso Pianistico Internazionale Ferruccio Busoni and at the International Competition for Musical Performers in Geneva.

A founding member of Quartet Canada, Ronald Turini was Professor Emeritus of piano performance at the University of Western Ontario, in London, Ontario until 2008.

References

Sources

Biography from the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada