“The Best Pianist Currently Playing” in Canada
Although he was born in Vienna, Austria, and although his formative years were spent in the United States, 62-year-old Anton Kuerti has lived half his life in Canada and now calls Canada home. At age 11, he performed the Grieg Concerto with Boston's famous conductor, Arthur Fiedler. He was still a student when he won the famous Leventritt Award, the prestigious Philadelphia Orchestra Youth Prize, 1957, the same year he debuted with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Carnegie Hall. Anton Kuerti has toured 31 countries, including Japan, USSR, and most European countries. In Canada, Kuerti, “the best pianist currently playing,” according to Fanfare Magazine, has appeared in 115 communities and has played with every professional Canadian orchestra including 35 concerts with the Toronto Symphony. He has won many prizes and honorary doctorates, and is an Officer of the Order of Canada (1998). Founder, Festival of Sound, Parry Sound, Ontario, Anton Kuerti's vast repertoire includes some 50 concertos, including all the Beethoven Concertos and Sonatas and a six-CD set of the Schubert Sonatas. [Photos,c ourtesy Anton Kuerti via Paul J. Hoeffler]