Avery Fisher Career Grants
"Musicians of outstanding ability are such an important part of our culture. But they are like flowers that must bloom at a particular time. They have to be helped at the right moments…" — Avery Fisher
These Grants of $25,000 give professional assistance and recognition to talented instrumentalists who the Recommendation Board and Executive Committee believe have great potential for solo careers. Since 2004, consideration is also being given to chamber ensembles. Up to five Career Grants may be given each year. Recipients must be U.S. citizens or permanent U.S. residents.
Grant Recipients 1970s
1976
Ani Kavafian, violinist
Heidi Lehwalder, harpist
Ursula Oppens, pianist
Paul Schenly, pianist
1977
André-Michel Schub, pianist
Richard Stoltzman, clarinetist
Grant Recipients 1980–1989
1980
Mona Golabek, pianist
Sharon Robinson, cellist
1982
Stephen Burns, trumpeter
Christopher O'Riley, pianist
Santiago Rodriguez, pianist
Gustavo Romero, pianist
Joseph Swensen, violinist
1983
Carter Brey, cellist
Jeffrey Kahane, pianist
Ida Levin, violinist
Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, violinist
Dmitry Sitkovetsky, violinist
1985
Mark Peskanov, violinist
Peter Wiley, cellist
Peter Zazofsky, violinist
1986
Joshua Bell, violinist
Matt Haimovitz, cellist
Ken Noda, pianist
1987
Lydia Artymiw, pianist
Stephanie Chase, violinist
Alexander Markov, violinist
Anne-Marie McDermott, pianist
David Shifrin, clarinetist
1988
Pamela Frank, violinist
Ida Kavafian, violinist
Andrew Rangell, pianist
David Starobin, guitarist
1989
Allison Eldredge, cellist
Daniel McKelway, clarinetist
Paul Neubauer, violist
Grant Recipients 1990–1999
1990
Yosif Feigelson, cellist
Gil Shaham, violinist
Chee-Yun, violinist
1991
Hung-Kuan Chen, pianist
Marina Piccinini, flutist
Stephen Prutsman, pianist
Wendy Warner, cellist
1992
Sarah Chang, violinist
Bion Tsang, cellist
1993
Anne Akiko Meyers, violinist
1994
Leila Josefowicz, violinist
Edgar Meyer, double bassist
Awadagin Pratt, pianist
Ignat Solzhenitsyn, pianist
Scott Yoo, violinist
1995
Catherine Cho, violinist
Hilary Hahn, violinist
Gary Hoffman, cellist
Helen Huang, pianist
Jennifer Koh, violinist
1996
Frederic Chiu, pianist
Eduardus Halim, pianist
Tricia Park, violinist
Sophie Shao, cellist
Christopher Taylor, pianist
1997
Mia Chung, pianist
Tamaki Kawakubo, violinist
Nokuthula Ngwenyama, violist
Orli Shaham, pianist
1998
Jeremy Denk, pianist
Andrés Díaz, cellist
Soovin Kim, violinist
Terrence Wilson, pianist
1999
Jonathan Biss, pianist
Jennifer Frautschi, violinist
Max Levinson, pianist
Adam Neiman, pianist
Grant Recipients 2000–2009
2000
Igor Begelman, clarinetist
Anthony McGill, clarinetist
Alisa Weilerstein, cellist
2001
Timothy Fain, violinist
Daniel Lee, cellist
Hai-Ye Ni, cellist
Tara Helen O'Connor, flutist
2002
Stefan Jackiw, violinist
Mark Kosower, cellist
Meng-Chieh Liu, pianist
Orion Weiss, pianist
2003
Colin Jacobsen, violinist
Demarre McGill, flutist
Giora Schmidt, violinist
Scott St. John, violinist/violist
Natalie Zhu, pianist
2004
Bridget Kibbey, harpist
Peter Kolkay, bassoonist
Tai Murray, violinist
Clancy Newman, cellist
2005
James Ehnes, violinist
Priscilla Lee, cellist
The Miró Quartet
Shai Wosner, pianist
2006
Efe Baltacigil, cellist
Erin Keefe, violinist
Jennifer Montone, hornist
Richard O'Neill, violist
The Pacifica Quartet
2007
Borromeo String Quartet
Yura Lee, violinist
DaXun Zhang, double bassist
2008
Jupiter String Quartet
José Franch-Ballester, clarinetist
Karen Gomyo, violinist
Gilles Vonsattel, pianist
2009
Inon Barnatan, pianist
Alessio Bax, pianist
Alexander Fiterstein, clarinetist
Augustin Hadelich, violinist
Arnaud Sussmann, violinist
Grant Recipients 2010–present
2010
David Aaron Carpenter, violist
Kirill Gerstein, pianist
Joyce Yang, pianist
Yuja Wang, pianist
2010 Avery Fisher Career Grant winners (L to R): Charles Avery Fisher; pianist Joyce Yang; pianist Yuja Wang; Nancy Fisher; violist David Aaron Carpenter (not pictured pianist, Kirill Gerstein).
Photo credit: Henry Grossman
2011
Caroline Goulding, violinist
Benjamin Hochman, pianist
Chu-Fang Huang, pianist
2011 Avery Fisher Career Grant winners (L to R): Nathan Leventhal, Chairman, Avery Fisher Artist Program; Benjamin Hochman, pianist; Caroline Goulding, violinist; Chu-Fang Huang, pianist; Nancy Fisher; Charles Avery Fisher.
Photo credit: Henry Grossman
2012
Benjamin Beilman, violinist
Conrad Tao, pianist
2012 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipients (L to R): Conrad Tao, pianist; Charles Avery Fisher; Nathan Leventhal, Chairman, Avery Fisher Artist Program; Nancy Fisher; Benjamin Beilman, violinist.
Photo credit: Henry Grossman
2013
Escher String Quartet
Bella Hristova, violinist
Kuok-Wai Lio, pianist
Andrew Tyson, pianist
Itamar Zorman, violinist
2013 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipients (L to R): Charles Avery Fisher; Nancy Fisher; Kuok-Wai Lio, pianist; Itamar Zorman, violinist; Bella Hristova, violinist; Nathan Leventhal, Chairman, Avery Fisher Artist Program. (Not pictured are the Escher String Quartet and pianist, Andrew Tyson.)
Photo credit: Henry Grossman
2014
Charlie Albright, pianist
Calder Quartet
Dimitri Murrath, violist
2014 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipients (L to R): Nathan Leventhal, Chairman, Avery Fisher Artist Program; Dimitri Murrath, violist; Charlie Albright, pianist; Nancy Fisher; Calder Quartet; Charles Avery Fisher.
Photo credit: © Steve J. Sherman
2015
Michael Brown, pianist
Paul Huang, violinist
Kristin Lee, violinist
Matthew Lipman, violist
Simone Porter, violinist
2015 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipients (L to R): violist Matthew Lipman, violinist Simone Porter, violinist Paul Huang, violinist Kristin Lee; pianist Michael Brown.
Photo credit: © 2015 Steve J. Sherman.
2016
Jay Campbell, cellist
Alexi Kenney, violinist
Tessa Lark, violinist
Sean Lee, violinist
George Li, pianist
2016 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipients (L TO R): George Li, pianist; Sean Lee, Tessa Lark and Alexi Kenney, violinists; and Jay Campbell, cellist.
Photo credit: © Steve J. Sherman.
2017
The Dover Quartet
Chad Hoopes, violinist
Stephen Waarts, violinist
Haochen Zhang, pianist
2017 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipients (L TO R): pianist Haochen Zhang, violinist Stephen Waarts, and violinist Chad Hoopes (not pictured The Dover Quartet).
Photo credit: © Steve J. Sherman.
2018
Calidore String Quartet
Xavier Foley, double bassist
Francisco Fullana, violinist
Drew Petersen, pianist
2018 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipients (L TO R): pianist Drew Petersen, double bassist Xavier Foley, and violinist Francisco Fullana (not pictured: Calidore String Quartet).
Photo credit: © Steve J. Sherman