At the time of his death at the age of 42 on December 22, 1985, Andrew Wolf was widely recognized as one of the nation's leading chamber music pianists. Perhaps best known through his concerts with Isaac Stern, he collaborated with many artists including the cellists Leonard Rose and Leslie Parnas, as well as the Vermeer Quartet.

Born into a musical family, he studied first with his grandmother, the violinist Lea Luboshutz. But it was under Rudolf Serkin and Miercyslaw Horszowski at the Curtis Institute of Music that he began to develop his unique pianistic style that Le Nouveau Journal in Paris described as "stunning and dramatic." When he made his debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Philadelphia Inquirer described him as "a young poet of the piano." In the next two decades he established a specialty as a chamber musician and was described by the Washington Star "as a pianist in a class quite by himself."

Devoting himself to chamber music, Andrew Wolf co-founded Bay Chamber Concerts and was its Artistic Director for 23 years. He also served as Director of the All Newton Music School in Massachusetts from 1977 to 1985. The school continues to present a music series to honor Andrew.

In early 1986, many of Andrew Wolf's friends and colleagues established a specially endowed prize that would encourage other chamber music pianists. Because Andrew Wolf was philosophically opposed to musical competition - which could damage the careers of those who did not win - the procedure for selecting the recipient of the Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award does not involve any public competition. Rather, it involves a process of confidential nominations and a review of nominees through tapes and public performances. Only the names of award recipients are announced to the public.

The award recipient must be a pianist under the age of forty who is an American citizen or permanent resident of the United States and has made a serious commitment and contribution to the chamber music field. In addition to a cash prize of $15,000, the recipient may be given additional concert engagements. The first Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award was presented in the summer of 1987.

Andrew Wolf Award Winners
Jeffrey Kahane - 1987
Lydia Artymiw - 1989
Christopher O'Riley - 1991
Wu Han - 1993
Anne-Marie McDermott - 1995
Jeremy Denk - 1999
Jonathan Biss - 2001
Natalie Zhu - 2003
Max Levinson - 2005
Inon Barnatan - 2008

Selection of the recipient in 2010 will be made on the advice of judges who remain anonymous and on the advice of the Awards Committee.

Awards Committee
Christopher Costanza - cellist and member of the St. Lawrence String Quartet
Gary Graffman - pianist and former Director of the Curtis Institute of Music
Wu Han - pianist and former Andrew Wolf Award winner
Marc Johnson - cellist and former member of the Vermeer Quartet
Seymour Lipkin - pianist and Director of the Kneisel Hall School in Blue Hill, Maine
David Shifrin - Artistic Director, Chamber Music Northwest
Cynthia Siebert - pianist and Director of the Friends of Chamber Music in Kansas City
Joseph Silverstein - violinist and conductor
Thomas Wolf - Artistic Director of Bay Chamber Concerts and Andrew Wolf's brother