Geoffrey Tozer

Geoffrey Tozer ( born November 5, 1954 in Mussoorie, India, † August 20, 2009 in Melbourne, Victoria) was an Australian pianist.

Life

Tozers parents were Australian, Tozers mother lived, however, at the time of birth for four years in India. At the age of eight years Tozer stepped publicly in a televised concert by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. A scholarship he was able to study in London and made his debut there at age 15 in a concert with orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall under the baton of Sir Colin Davis.

In the 1990s, Tozer became a target of the press, after it had become known that he had received two further artistic scholarships totaling $ 500,000 off of a foundation of the then Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating. Tozer himself had Keating inspires the Foundation because he had to drive the bike to piano lessons, which he gave to his son, because his annual income of only 9,000 OFF $. The scholarship Tozer could travel to London finance after 1991, had a contract with Chandos Records closed.

Tozers first recordings there were at that time hardly played three piano concertos by Nikolai Medtner with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Neeme Järvi, also known made ​​him abruptly world. Other recordings of solo piano music by Medtner followed; to 2009, Tozer had a large part of the piano music played, including the complete piano sonatas, and was the most recorded Medtner interpreter at all. In fact, Medtner's greatest patrons Jayachamaraja Wodeyar, the Maharaja of Mysore, once a friend of Tozers mother in India.

In addition to the music of Medtner focused Tozers recording activity, which has produced 39 CDs, to other less well-known composers and works of the 20th century, including Alan Rawsthorne, John McEwen, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Robert Gerhard, Ottorino Respighi, Ferruccio Busoni, Artur Schnabel, Nikolai Tcherepnin and Percy Grainger.

Geoffrey Tozer died on August 20, 2009 in Melbourne at the age of 54 years.