Evgeny Kissin. Photo: Website of Evgeny Kissin

Evgeny Kissin

Musician 

For Carnegie Hall’s 125th anniversary, Russian-born classical pianist Evgeny Kissin curated a special series in which he explored his artistic interests and musical discoveries.

Kissin, a child prodigy who became a British citizen in 2002 and an Israeli citizen in 2013, is passionate about his heritage, particularly the music and poetry of Eastern European Jewry. In mid-December at Carnegie Hall, he performed rarely heard piano works by lesser-known Jewish composers and recited some of his favorite Yiddish poetry in a program that previously received tremendous acclaim at the Kennedy Center.

Also in 2015, he joined other prominent British figures in signing a letter to the influential newspaper the Guardian to denounce boycotts of Israel. Kissin told The Algemeiner that he backed the letter because “Israel is good and its cause is right. To all unbiased people, it is as obvious as 2 x 2 = 4.”