Editing Vladimir Ashkenazy (section)

== Early life and education ==
Vladimir Ashkenazy was born in Gorky, Soviet Union (now [[Nizhny Novgorod]], Russia), to pianist and composer [[David Ashkenazi]] and to actress Yevstolia Grigorievna (born Plotnova). His father was Jewish and his mother came from a Russian [[Russian Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] family. Ashkenazy was christened in a Russian Orthodox church.<ref name="Independent">[https://web.archive.org/web/20081123092153/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/ashkenazy--still-russian-to-the-core-949517.html Ashkenazy – Still Russian to the core], [[The Independent]], 3 October 2008 (retrieved 23 October 2008)</ref><ref>[http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_news/?cat_id=16567&ew_0_a_id=275815 Iceland Review Online: Daily News from Iceland, Current Affairs, Business, Politics, Sports, Culture]. Icelandreview.com (6 December 2005). Retrieved on 2013-08-02.</ref><ref>[http://www.enotes.com/contemporary-musicians/ashkenazy-vladimir-biography Ashkenazy, Vladimir]. Enotes.com. Retrieved on 29 October 2013.</ref> He began playing [[piano]] at the age of six and was accepted to the Central Music School at age eight, studying with [[Anaida Sumbatyan]].

Ashkenazy attended the [[Moscow Conservatory]] where he studied with [[Lev Oborin]] and [[Boris Zemliansky]]. He won second prize in the [[V International Chopin Piano Competition]] in Warsaw in 1955 and the first prize in the [[Queen Elisabeth Music Competition]] in Brussels in 1956. He shared the first prize in the 1962 [[International Tchaikovsky Competition]] with British pianist [[John Ogdon]]. As a student, like many in that period, he was harassed by the [[KGB]] to become an "informer".<ref>{{Cite web |last=lebrecht |first=norman |date=2009-08-10 |title=Vladimir Ashkenazy: My Life in the KGB |url=https://slippedisc.com/2009/08/vladimir_ashkenazy_my_life_in/ |access-date=2023-04-28 |website=Slippedisc |language=en}}</ref>