Kremer, Gidon
Kremer, Gidon
Kremer, Gidon, brilliant Latvian violinist; b. Riga, Feb. 27, 1947. His parents were violinists in the Riga Sym. Orch. He obtained the elements of violin study from his father and grandfather. When he was 16, he won the 1st prize of the Latvian Republic, and then continued professional studies with David Oistrakh at the Moscow Cons. He took part in several competitions, culminating in 1st prizes at the Paganini Competition in Genoa in 1968 and the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1970. Subsequently he appeared in Western Europe to notable acclaim. He made an auspicious N.Y. debut at Avery Fisher Hall on Jan. 14, 1977. In subsequent years, he appeared as a soloist with many of the major orchs. of the world, gave recitals, and performed in chamber music settings. He has won special commendation for his efforts to broaden the repertoire for his instrument; his great contribution to modern music has been the consistent presentation of new violin works, particularly those of Soviet composers, among them Alfred Schnittke and Sofia Gubaidulina. He has also given notable performances of the works of the Estonian composer Arvo Part.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire