Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award
Established in 1986, the Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award honors the memory of Andrew Wolf, co-founder of Bay Chamber Concerts and a leading chamber music pianist, who died in 1985 at the age of 42.
The $25,000 award recognizes a pianist under the age of forty who has made a serious commitment and contribution to the landscape of chamber music. Nominations for the award, which come from leaders in the world of chamber music, are not made public. In the final round to determine the winner, judges attend live performances anonymously to hear the finalists play.
2026 Award RecipientMichael Stephen Brown
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Pianist-composer Michael Stephen Brown is the 2026 winner of the prestigious Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award, presented by the nationally acclaimed Bay Chamber Concerts & Music School. The $25,000 prize for pianists under age 40 was established in 1986 in memory of Andrew Wolf, a distinguished chamber music pianist and co-founder of Bay Chamber. Brown will perform at Bay Chamber for the next three summers.
In the music world, Brown, 38, is something of a superstar. The New York Times called him "one of the leading figures in the current renaissance of performer-composers.” This year, he became a MacDowell Fellow and previously won both an Emerging Artist Award from Lincoln Center and an Avery Fisher Career Grant. He’s played recitals at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and the Louvre among many others.
“Michael’s artistry embodies the adventurous spirit and poetic intelligence that define the award – a rare blend of imagination, virtuosity, and warmth.” said Manuel Bagorro, Bay Chamber Artistic Director, “It’s a particular joy to welcome Michael into our artistic community.”
Michael Brown is “one of the most refined of all pianist-composers.”
— International Piano
History of the award
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2025 Conrad Tao
2022 Michelle Cann
2019 Orion Weiss
2016 Gilles Vonsattel
2013 Alessio Bax
2011 Anna Polonsky
2008 Inon Barnatan
2005 Max Levinson
2003 Natalie Zhu
2001 Jonathan Biss
1999 Jeremy Denk
1995 Anne-Marie McDermott
1993 Wu Han
1991 Christopher O’Riley
1989 Lydia Artymiw
1987 Jeffrey Kahane