He was born in Argentina and began piano lessons at the age of five with his mother and father. He made his debut in Buenos Aires at the age of seven, gaining international notoriety after a series of concerts in Vienna, Rome, Paris, London, and New York.

Barenboim still makes frequent appearances with the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic and has authored a book titled “A Life in Music.” He has received numerous awards, including a Grammy in 2003, and most recently, the Wolf Prize for the Arts for his efforts to unite Palestinians and Israelis.

The Norton professorship, established in 1925, is given in honor of Harvard’s first professor of the History of Art, Charles Eliot Norton, who taught from 1875 to 1898. It honors “poets” in fields including music, literature, humanities, and the fine arts. Past recipients include composers Igor Stravinsky and Aaron Copeland, and literary figures T. S. Eliot ’10 and Robert Frost.

—Staff writer Javier C. Hernandez can be reached at jhernand@fas.harvard.edu.