André Previn

André Previn (Andreas Ludwig Priwin) KBE (b. April 6, 1929, Berlin)[1] is a German-born American Academy Award and Grammy Award winning pianist, conductor, and composer. He first came to prominence by arranging and composing Hollywood film scores in 1948.

As a pianist, Previn often performs with Anne-Sophie Mutter and Lynn Harrell, and regularly gives chamber music concerts with the Emerson String Quartet, as well as members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, and the Vienna Philharmonic.

He is currently Music Director of the Oslo Philharmonic. A frequent guest with the world's major orchestras — both in concert and on recordings — he appears annually with the Vienna Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and New York Philharmonic, and has held the chief artistic posts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, and London Symphony and Houston Symphony orchestras.

Previn's recent compositions include a violin-and-piano work (Tango Song and Dance) and the Violin Concerto, both written for Anne Sofie Mutter. His music drama, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, written in collaboration with Tom Stoppard for the LSO, was revived last season by the Philadelphia Orchestra. Other compositions include a piano concerto for Vladimir Ashkenazy, a cello sonata for Yo-Yo Ma, and song cycles for Janet Baker, Kathleen Battle, and Barbara Bonney. He is currently at work on his second opera, based on the Alessandro Baricco novel Silk.