Esteemed violinist Miriam Fried—known for her “fiery intensity and emotional depth” (Musical America) as well as for her technical mastery—is ending her 30-year leadership of the Ravinia Steans Music Institute (RSMI)’s Piano & Strings program after this summer. Throughout her tenure as director of the program, Fried has brought her direct, hands-on mentoring to numerous young professional musicians who have gone on to distinguished, often award-winning careers, and who credit the Steans Music Institute and Fried as integral parts of their training and success.
Miriam Fried (center) with Ravinia Steans Music Institute alumni and 2016 spring touring ensemble members (L to R) violinist Inmo Yang, violists Shira Majoni and Dana Kelley, and cellist Haran Meltzer at the metal relief of Ravinia’s logo outside the John D. Harza Building, the home of RSMI
“We are incredibly grateful to have had Miriam at the helm of Ravinia’s Piano & Strings program for three decades as part of her rich legacy,” said Ravinia President and CEO Jeff Haydon. “Her influence on countless musicians and careers can’t be overstated, and we look forward to seeing her back on stage with RSMI alumni for outstanding chamber music recitals here at Ravinia, in New York, and in Washington, DC, this spring, as well as at Ravinia this summer.”
Fried (second from left) rehearsing with the 2007 RSMI spring touring ensemble of (L to R) violinist Arnaud Sussman, pianist Alasdair Beatson, cellist Jakob Moranyi, and violist Kyle Armbrust in Bennett Gordon Hall, the home stage of RSMI
The Steans Institute is one of most sought-after summer training programs in the country, and it can count a wide array of noted artists as alumni. It encompasses three different programs—for jazz, piano and strings, and voice—at successive times in the summer. Setting RSMI’s Piano & Strings program apart is its small size—30 or so college-level musicians, ranging in age from 17 to 30, with a small ensemble sometimes taking one of the slots—and its singular focus on sonata and chamber repertoire.
When she was celebrating her 25th year of directorship, Fried sat down with Ravinia Magazine and reminisced about the call she received in 1993, when she was asked to expand her summer teaching time at the institute. Fried first wanted to know who was going to replace the departing director of the Program for Piano & Strings. She called and posed that question to Zarin Mehta, then executive director of Ravinia, and he astonished her by asking if she would take the job.
Equally astute dissecting a score as playing one, Fried has lent her gravitas to the practice rooms of the Harza Building for as many seasons as she has been a featured artist at Ravinia: 30 years as Piano & Strings Program Director and another three as a guest.
“I was flabbergasted,” Fried remembered. “I didn’t know what to say.”
But after thinking about it for a few days, Fried agreed to accept the position, and the rest is history. Far exceeding the tenure of her two predecessors—the late violinists Robert Mann (1988) and Walter Levin (1989–93), she has been the enduring face and soul of the program.
“This is part of my life,” the Boston-based violinist said. “I’m eager to come here every summer. I love the place, I really do.”
“These concerts will be especially meaningful to me as it is going to be my final RSMI tour. What a beautiful way to say farewell.”
This year also marks Fried’s valedictory Piano & Strings Program tour, beginning in March—the first road concerts presented by RSMI since 2019. Fried will join five award-winning alumni of the program for chamber music performances at Ravinia’s Bennett Gordon Hall on March 24, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York on March 28, and the Terrace Theater at The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, on March 30.
The 2023 Ravinia on Tour ensemble (clockwise from top left): pianist Sahun Sam Hong; cellist Gabriel Martins; violinists Miriam Fried, Maria Ioudenitch, and Geneva Lewis; and violist Zhanbo Zheng
“Chamber music is about collaboration and communication. The pandemic made both impossible, so we are all very excited to resume our exploration of this great music in rehearsal and to share it with our audiences in concert. We will bring extra enthusiasm to both endeavors,” Fried said. “These concerts will be especially meaningful to me as it is going to be my final RSMI tour. What a beautiful way to say farewell.”
Winner of the Paganini Competition in 1968 and the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition in 1971, Fried has enjoyed a top-drawer solo career since those groundbreaking achievements, performing with many of the world’s major orchestras. The Israeli violinist is particularly known for her interpretations of Bach’s sonatas and partitas for solo violin, performing them twice at Ravinia (in 2000 and 2016) and recording them for the Lyrinx label in 1997 and again for Nimbus in 2016, following a year’s intense study. She even created an online video course about the works, much like her son Jonathan Biss has for Beethoven’s piano sonatas.
Fried began teaching in 1986 at Indiana University and has held a full-time post at the New England Conservatory since 2006. “I love teaching,” she said. “I really do. I’m not a missionary, so it’s not a mission in that sense. But I do believe that the most significant way you can really impart your beliefs about [the fundamentals of] the profession is through teaching.” That reach extended in 1991 when Fried was invited to join the RSMI faculty. Because she has been a chamber-music devotee since she was 10, including a 10-year stint as first violinist of the Mendelssohn String Quartet, she thought the program was a good fit for her. Two years later, her manager got a call wondering if she would be willing to extend her teaching time there, and that led to her fateful phone call with Mehta.
The conversation happened on a Friday, so Fried asked if she could think about his proposal over the weekend—and she was reluctant at first. “It’s one thing to waltz in here and teach and leave,” she admitted, “but it’s quite another to be responsible for so much of what happens here.”
Tickets to Miriam Fried’s upcoming chamber music performance with RSMI alumni at Ravinia’s Bennett Gordon Hall on March 24 are on sale now.