Amir Farid
Amir Farid has been described as a highly creative musician – a pianist of great intelligence and integrity who brings strong musical substance to all that he does, imbuing it with his own experience and understanding, and who distinguishes himself for all the right reasons.
Winner of the 2006 Australian National Piano Award.
In 2004 Mr Farid completed his B.Mus (Hon) at the University of Melbourne under Ronald Farren-Price. He later attended the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM), studying with Rita Reichman, the late Geoffrey Tozer and Timothy Young. In 2009 he graduated with distinction as a Scholar supported by the Gordon Calway Stone Memorial Award at the Royal College of Music, London, studying with Andrew Ball.
He has performed concertos with the Sydney Symphony, Melbourne Symphony, Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, Melbourne Youth and ANAM Orchestras, including Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl with the Melbourne Symphony before a capacity crowd of 13,000. Conductors with whom he has collaborated include Graham Abbott, Peter Bandy, Alexander Briger, Oleg Caetani, Brett Dean, Marko Letonja and Benjamin Northey.
As a chamber musician he is pianist of the acclaimed Benaud Trio (www.benaudtrio.com). With the trio he won the Piano Trio prize at the 2005 Australian Chamber Music Competition and undertook a residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada.
As an associate artist he won the prize for best pianist at the 2006 Mietta Song Recital Award and the 2007 Geoffrey Parsons Award. Collaborations include cellists Alexander Baillie, Mats Lidström and Martin Loveday, saxophonist Claude Delangle, clarinettist Dong Jun-Mo, contralto Liane Keegan, pianist Max Olding, soprano Merlyn Quaife, the Tin Alley String Quartet and mezzo-soprano Pamela Turner.
Throughout his studies he took part in lessons and masterclasses with Michele Campanella, Aquiles Delle Vigne, Nikolai Demidenko, Christopher Elton, Gordon Fergus-Thompson, Cord Garben, Mark Gasser, Angela Hewitt, Ian Holtham, Leslie Howard, Julian Jacobson, Geoffrey Lancaster, Stephen McIntyre, Malcolm Martineau, Dominique Merlet, Hamish Milne, Lisa Moore, Ian Munro, Ruth Nye, Adrian Oetiker, Max Olding, Bart van Oort, Cristina Ortiz, John Perry, Geoffrey Saba, Natasha Vlassenko, Frank Wibaut, Gerard Willems, Oxana Yablonskaya and John York.
Mr Farid acknowledges the support and generosity of Mr Neville Arthur, the Australia Business Arts Foundation, the Australian Music Foundation, the Australian National Academy of Music, Mr John Garran, Mrs Lois Goodin, Mrs Heather de Haes, the Ian Potter Cultural Trust, the Royal College of Music, the Swiss Global Artistic Foundation, the Tait Memorial Foundation, the Turnbull Family and the University of Melbourne.
Artist's website: www.amirfarid.com
Press quotes
...an accomplished young musician. Farid’s experience in accompaniment and in chamber music has helped him develop a sensitivity for texture and colour that translates well to his solo playing...
Amir Farid is a highly creative musician - a pianist of great intelligence and integrity. He brings strong musical substance to all that he does, imbuing it with his own particular experience and understanding.
Amir Farid is featured on the following titles
Schumann Cello
Cellist Zoe Knighton and pianist Amir Farid continue their partnership in a programme of short works by Clara and Robert Schumann, pairing song transcriptions with chamber pieces for cello and piano.
Brahms Cello
Zoe Knighton and Amir Farid present their seventh cello–piano collaboration, turning to Johannes Brahms. The programme pairs his two cello sonatas with three songs in which the cello takes the vocal line wordlessly.
Satellite Mapping
Amir Farid performs Stuart Greenbaum’s complete solo piano works composed between 1989 and 2014, a two-disc survey of more than two hours of music.
Russian Cello
Enter the world of Russia. Zoe Knighton and Amir Farid present unknown works alongside much-loved classics. The recording celebrates a romanticism in composition inspired by the combination of cello and piano.
Amir Farid plays Javad Maroufi
Javād Maroufi was among the first composers of piano music in Persia, celebrated for his contribution to Persian classical music. Born in Tehran to musician parents Musa and Ezra Maroufi – both pupils of Darvish Khan – he lost his mother young, was raised by his father, and learned violin and tar from an early age.
A Little French Cello
A charming collection from the rich French school of the late nineteenth century. Cello sonority and piano clarity make the programme both approachable and moving. Zoe Knighton and Amir Farid are masters of their art.
Hymne à l’amour
Hymne à l’amour is an exquisite collection of art songs from soprano Siobhán Stagg and pianist Amir Farid. The programme traces the frailty of the human condition through flirtation, deep love and heartbreaking truths.
Beethoven Cello
Cellists often bemoan the lack of a cello concerto by Beethoven – and rightly so, but these eight works for cello and piano are the envy of many other instruments. The complete cello sonatas and variations of Beethoven are here on this two-CD set.
Argentine Cello
More than Piazzolla alone: seven Argentine composers shape a cello-and-piano programme of tango, pampas colour and lyric nationalism, played by Zoe Knighton and Amir Farid.
Mendelssohn Cello
Mendelssohn is often cast as a composer who lived a charmed life, and whose music therefore lacks depth. The glory of that music, its likeability, and his gift for celebrating humanity remain primary reasons for its lasting hold.
Veiled Virtuosity
Amir Farid’s debut solo recording, made after his win at the 2006 Australian National Piano Award, ranges from Beethoven’s Waldstein Sonata and works by Brahms, Liszt and Prokofiev to Australian scores by Stuart Greenbaum and Carl Vine, with two pieces by Iranian composer Javad Maroufi.
Moonlight Reflections
A recital album full to the brim with exquisite art song, this recording gathers hidden treasures and classic favourites performed by Opera Australia star Stacey Alleaume.
Music for Strings
String orchestra music from Wolf-Ferrari and Grieg to Britten, Grainger and living Australian voices. Gerald Gentry leads the Southern Cross Philharmonia, with Amir Farid at the piano in Grainger’s clog-dance romp.