Biography
Yvar Emilian Mikhashoff (1941–1993) was an American virtuoso pianist and composer best known for his performance of contemporary classical music. Born Ronald Mackay in 1941 in Troy, New York, he took the name of his Russian grandfather in 1968.
Education
Mikhashoff began piano studies with Betty Weir and Stanley Hummel in Albany. At the Eastman School of Music in 1959, he first majored in composition and cello, then changed to piano studies with Armand Basile. In the 1961 academic year, he studied piano with Beveridge Webster at the Juilliard School. He also had a career as a ballroom dancer from 1962-1965.
In 1964 Mikhashoff entered the University of Houston for studies in piano with Albert Hirsh. He earned a B.M. in 1967 and continued with graduate study in composition with Elmer Schoettle and obtained his M.M. in 1968.
Receiving a Fulbright scholarship, Mikhashoff studied the music of the French Impressionists with Nadia Boulanger. After his return to the United States, Mikhashoff entered the University of Texas at Austin as a doctoral candidate in composition and studied with Hunter Johnson, Kent Kennan, Janet McGaughey and Karl Korte. He earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree with a major in composition and a minor in literature in August 1973.
Career
In the Fall of 1973, Mikhashoff was appointed Assistant Professor at the University at Buffalo, a position he held until his death in 1993. He founded the Cambiata Soloists and later moved the ensemble’s location from Houston to Albany, giving an annual series of concerts at the Albany Institute of History and Art. He received the Arts Council of Great Britain Performance Award in 1983 and the Arbeiterkammerpreis from the Austrian government in 1989. He also received Fulbright scholarships for study in Denmark and Argentina.
Mikhashoff was a leading performer of contemporary piano music with appearances at many of the world's leading music festivals, including the Warsaw Autumn Festival, Zagreb Biennale, Holland Festival, Ars Musica, Numus Festival, Huddersfield Festival, Music Nova Brazil, and Pan Music Festival Korea. He performed as a soloist with orchestras around the world including the Danish Radio Concert Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquesta filarmonica de Buenos Aires, Orchestra sinfonia di Roma, Norwegian Radio Orkestra, and many others. 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.
Mikhashoff worked closely with many illustrious composers including John Cage, Morton Feldman, Lukas Foss, Per Nørgård, Poul Ruders and Giacinto Scelsi. Sylvano Bussotti created the role of Mr. Fred for Mikhashoff in his opera Le Racine: Pianobar pour Phèdre, premiered at Piccolo Scala in Milan in 1980. He collaborated with Conlon Nancarrow on instrumental arrangements of his Studies for Player Piano, which are published by Schott and have been performed worldwide.
In addition to his performance schedule, Mikhashoff was artistic advisor for many festivals and venues: with Pierre Audi at the Almeida Festival in London and De Isjbrekjer in Amsterdam; with Geir Johnson in the formation of the Music Factory in Bergen; and as a co-founder with Jan Williams of the North American Music Festival in Buffalo.
From 1983 to 1991 Mikhashoff commissioned no fewer than 127 tangos for solo piano from 127 composers, nineteen of which he recorded for New Albion Records. Among his extensive recordings are six releases on Mode Records including the four-CD set “Panorama of American Piano Music” which recreates a marathon concert of music from Ives to Cage. His virtuosic opera transcriptions have been recorded by Jean-Yves Thibaudet on Decca and his monumental piano trilogy, Elemental Figures, has been recorded by Winston Choi on Albany Records. An archive of Mikhashoff's work is held by the Music Library of University at Buffalo Libraries.
Articles by and About Mikhashoff
“The Treasures of Yvar Mikhashoff”
Article accompanying a 2018 exhibit at the University at Buffalo Music Library, curated by John Bewley