[5] Perahia began studying the piano at age four, with a teacher, he said, who was "very limiting" because she made him play a single piece until it was perfect.

[6] At age 17, Perahia attended Mannes College, where he studied keyboard, conducting, and composition with his teacher and mentor Mieczysław Horszowski.

During the summer, he also attended the Marlboro Music School and Festival, where he studied with musicians Rudolf Serkin, Alexander Schneider, and Pablo Casals, among others.

He played duets for piano four hands with Serkin, who later made Perahia his assistant at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, a position he held for over a year.

In 1972, he was the first North American to win first prize at the Leeds Piano Competition, helping to cement its reputation for advancing the careers of young pianists.

[7] [8] In 1973, Perahia worked with Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears at the Aldeburgh Festival, and with fellow pianist Radu Lupu.

After recovering, he produced a series of award-winning recordings of Bach's keyboard works in the late 1990s, including a notable rendition of the Goldberg Variations.

Owing to his hand problem, and on the advice of his doctor, Perahia cancelled a February 2008 solo recital at the Barbican Centre[10] and a tour in the United States with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields (March and April 2008).

[13] In January 2009, Murray Perahia was appointed president of the Jerusalem Music Center established by violinist Isaac Stern.

[5] In an interview with Haaretz newspaper, he said: "Music represents an ideal world where all dissonances resolve, where all modulations — that are journeys — return home, and where surprise and stability coexist.

"[5] Perahia appeared at Sir Neville Marriner's 90th birthday concert on April 1, 2014, playing Mozart's Piano Concerto No.

Perahia plans to hold a series of masterclasses in Munich on Beethoven's piano sonatas, hosted by the publisher G. Henle Verlag, with ten young professional pianists.