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The American pianist, Navah Miriam Perlman, was born into a musical family. Her parents are violinists Toby and Itzhak Perlman. She began her piano studies at age 6 with Ronit Amir Lowenthal and later attended the Juilliard School where she worked with Herbert Stessin. She also studied chamber music with Robert Mann, Felix Galimir, and Dorothy DeLay. She performed as a soloist with the Greater Miami Youth Symphony Orchestra in 1984, and the Los Angeles American Youth Symphony Orchestra in 1985,. and made her professional debut at age 15 with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra in 1986.
Navah Perlman was well on her way to a career as a concert pianist when she had to give up playing. At the end of her freshman year at Brown University in 1990, during which she also studied piano at Julliard, she became very ill and was diagnosed with a hybrid of three different diseases: rheumatoid arthritis, a spinal form of arthritis called spondyll arthritis and periphery lupus symptoms. "I had conflicting symptoms and it took my doctors a while to figure it out," she said. "I was ordered to stop playing the piano." But instead of see nothing but disaster, she turned her focus to art history, a subject with which she had become fascinated during a survey course. She graduated with Master of Art History with honors from Brown University in 1992.
By the time Navah Perlman had graduated, she had recovered enough to begin cautiously practicing, ten minutes a day to start. Ultimately, she regained her technique. Fortunately, the disease had not reached her fingers. Although she had avoided performing with her famous father before, now, she worked back into concert life with his help. Being scheduled to perform with Itzhak Perlman overcame a confidence problem: She was worried that, performing on her own, she might cause disappointment if she had to cancel. But, sharing the billing with her father meant that if she did cancel, all that would happen would be that the audience would have a longer Itzhak Perlman concert to enjoy. After two years, she realized that her health was reliable enough that she could perform on her own, and the two Perlmans have mainly dropped their double appearances, though they do appear together for benefit concerts.
Known for her lyrical eloquence on the stage, Navah Perlman has established herself as one of the most poetic and admired pianists of her generation. She has performed to critical acclaim in major concert venues throughout North America, Europe and Asia. She has appeared with numerous orchestras throughout North America including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Nashville Symphony and Montreal Symphony Orchestra. Internationally, she has appeared with the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, National Orchestra of Mexico, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Prague Symphony and New Japan Philharmonic in Suntory Hall. She has given recitals in Washington, D.C., Dallas, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Scottsdale, and Baltimore. Her previous season highlights include performances with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Westchester Philharmonic and a duo-performance with soprano Arianna Zukerman in Washington, D.C.
In addition to her successful solo career, Navah Perlman collaborates frequently in chamber music with violinist Philippe Quint and cellist Zuill Bailey as the Perlman/Quint/Bailey Trio. The trio's energetic and passionate performances have taken them to major concert halls, festivals and universities across North America including Lincoln Center, the Lied Centers of Kansas and Nebraska, the Kennedy Center, Ravinia and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival as well as in cities such as San Francisco, Chicago, St. Louis, Phoenix, Houston, Charlotte, Westchester, and Mexico City. The trio slso frequently performes L.v. Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with orchestra.
Navah Perlman’s 2011-2012 season highlights include a performance with the Perlman/Quint/Bailey Trio presented by the San Diego Symphony, a recital tour throughout Florida in the spring as well as duo recitals with Zuill Bailey.
Navah Perlman is an active and respected performer of residency and educational outreach activities. Communities in which she has given extended residencies include Raleigh, North Carolina and Vancouver, British Columbia. While in residence, Ms. Perlman teaches students of all ages in master classes, speaks to school assemblies and has also conducted pedagogy workshops for teachers. She has participated in several chamber music residency programs, including those at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, the University of California at Davis, and Stanford University.
Navah Perlman's recital recording of J.S. Bach, L.v. Beethoven, Felix Mendelssohn, Frédéric Chopin and Prokofiev is available on EMI Classics. Other recordings include:”The Rose Album” (Oxingale Records, 2002); Prokofiev: Piano Sonatas Nos. 1-3, 6-8; Ballet Arrangements (EMI Classics, 2009).
Navah Perlman married Robert D. Frost in 2001. They live in New York and have four children. |
