Timothy Ehlen

Biography

Timothy Ehlen has performed extensively in the United States and Europe as a soloist and chamber player. He first gained international attention after winning the World Piano Competition in 1987; after his subsequent debut in Lincoln Center at Alice Tully Hall in 1988, the New York Times raved that his “playing was filled with elegant personality… recalled bygone artists like Robert Casadesus and, especially Walter Gieseking in their mastery of both 18th century and impressionist music . . . immaculate technique.”  The Pro Piano Recital Series sponsored his 1997 recital in Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, which the New York Concert Review hailed as “. . . an absolutely remarkable tour-de-force.”  Recitals in France, Germany, and Korea have elicited a similarly enthusiastic response: “Sensitive and tender creativity [in Ravel]” [Fürther Nachrichten] and “behind the fire hid a heartfelt emotion, held together by tender affection [in Beethoven]” [L’Alsace].

Recitals include the Cleveland Orchestra’s Schubert Bi-Centennial Series in Cleveland, festival Recontres Internationales de Piano en Alsace, International Franz Liszt Festival in France; periodic recitals on the series “Sundays Live” (broadcast live on KMZT in Los Angeles from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art), Old First Concerts in San Francisco, Bösendorfer Hall in Vienna, Kum Ho Art Hall in Seoul, Korea; numerous universities, including Indiana University in Bloomington, Eastman School of Music in Rochester (NY), Northwestern University in Evanston (IL), Seoul National University in Korea, New England Conservatory of Music, University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, etc.  He has been heard frequently on National Public Radio, in addition to numerous independent broadcasts of major market performances in this country and abroad.

Ehlen has recorded the complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas for the Azica label. After the release of volume III, Fanfare Magazine (May/June 2011) wrote, “. . . I have the feeling that the cycle with the richest rewards will turn out to be the Ehlen.”  Other CD releases on the Azica label include the Schumann Fantasie op. 17 and other works (2006), The Ehlen-Tai Piano Duo, Virtuosic Dance (2016), and most recently, the Brahms late character pieces, ops. 116, 117, 118 and 119 (2018). Additional recordings have appeared on the Crystal, Omnibus, and Felia Mundi labels.

Appearances with orchestra include performances of concerti of Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Rachmaninoff, Poulenc, Liszt and Dohnányi with various orchestras in the US, including the Ventura County Symphony and Redlands Symphony in California, Kingsport Symphony in Tennessee, Warren Chamber Orchestra in Ohio, Sinfonia da Camera and Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra in Illinois, and, most recently performances of the Beethoven Concertos No. 4 and No. 5 with the University of Illinois orchestras.

Dedicated to fostering young talent, Ehlen regularly presents master classes at major universities and conservatories, including The San Francisco Conservatory, Seoul National University, Yonsei University and others in Korea, Eastman School of Music, The Chautauqua Music Festival, Brevard Music Festival, The Colburn School of Music, California Institute of the Arts, Idyllwild School for the Arts in Los Angeles, Boston University, etc. In summer of 2018, Mr. Ehlen embarked on a month-long tour of universities and conservatories in China, offering master classes and lecture recitals at China Conservatory in Beijing, Wuhan Conservatory in Hubei, Wuhan, Xinghai Conservatory of Music in Guangdong, Guangzhou, and other schools and venues in Shanghai, Guangzou, Nanning and Guiyang.

Ehlen has taught and performed at the summer festivals Rencontres Musicales en Lorraine in Nancy, France, the Vienna International Piano Academy in Vienna, Austria, and the Chautauqua Music Festival in New York, the Brevard Music Institute in North Carolina, and, most recently, the Montecito Music Festival in California. He completed his BMUS and MM studies with John Perry at the University of Southern California, and his Doctor of Musical Arts degree with Paul Schenly at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Timothy Ehlen is an International Steinway Artist.