Yvar Mikhashoff

Yvar Mikhashoff

Internationally known both as an interpreter of 20th century piano works and as a performer/curator of American music, Yvar Mikhashoff performed at many of the world’s leading music festivals, including the Warsaw Autumn Festival, Zagreb Biennale, Holland Festival, Ars Musica/Brussels, Numus Festival/ Denmark, Huddersfield Festival/England, Music Nova/Brazil, and Pan Music Festival/ Korea. He also appeared as piano soloist with major orchestras in the United States, South America, and Europe.
 
    Mr. Mikhashoff studied at the Eastman and Juilliard Schools and the University of Houston, and received his Doctorate in Composition from the University of Texas in 1972. He was Professor of Music at the University  at Buffalo from 1973 until his death, Associate Director of the Almeida Festival in London, Artistic Advisor to the Music Factory in Bergen, Norway, and Co-founder/Artistic Director of the North American New Music Festival. Composers who wrote for him included John Cage, Lukas Foss, Christian Wolff, Henry Brant, Sylvano Bussotti, Per Nørgaard, Luis de Pablo, and Conlon Nancarrow. Over one hundred composers wrote three-minute tangos for his International Tango Collection. The Austrian government awarded him the Arbeiterkammerpreis in 1989. He also received Fulbright scholarships for study in Denmark and Argentina.

Mr. Mikhashoff was very active as a recording artist, with releases on the Nonesuch, CRI, Mode, Spectrum, Paula, EMI, and New Albion labels. He recorded for every major broadcast center in Europe as well as for Radio Hong Kong and NHK/Tokyo.