Eugene Istomin

Eugene George Istomin (* November 26, 1925 in New York City; † 10 October 2003 in Washington, DC ) was an American composer and pianist.

Life

The son of Russian Jewish immigrants began in 1937 studying piano with Rudolf Serkin and Mieczysław Horszowski at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. He was known at the age of seventeen as the winner of Leventritt Competition and the Philadelphia Orchestra Youth Award. 1943 debuted with Brahms ' Second Piano Concerto with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under Artur Rodzinski. Since 1950 he has been a regular participant in the organized by Pablo Casals Prades Festival.

During his career he played more than four thousand concerts on all continents among the most important conductors such as Bruno Walter, Fritz Reiner, George Szell, Charles Münch, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Eugene Ormandy and Leonard Bernstein. Composers such as Henri Dutilleux, Roger Sessions and Ned Rorem composed works for him.

In addition to his solo career, he was also a member of the company founded in 1960 Istomin - Stern - Rose Trio, with whom he won a 1971 Grammy Award for his recording of Beethoven's trios.

1975 married Casals Istomin ' widow Martha, with whom he lived in Washington since 1980. From 1985 to 1987 he was director of the University of Maryland International Piano Festival and Competition. In 2003, he died in Washington of liver cancer.

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