Gary Graffman
Gary Graffman (born
14 October 1928) is a classical
pianist, teacher of piano and music administrator.
Graffman was born in
New York City to
Russian-
Jewish parents. He is considered one of the greatest living pianists and served as the President of the renowned
Curtis Institute of Music from 1995 through May, 2006. He is continuing as a faculty member at Curtis teaching piano.
Having started piano at age 3, Graffman entered the Curtis Institute of Music at age 7 in 1936 as a piano student of Isabelle Vengerova. He graduated in 1946 and shortly thereafter made his debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy. After graduating from the Curtis Institute in 1946, Gary Graffman made his professional solo debut under the direction of conductor
Eugene Ormandy and the
Philadelphia Orchestra. By the age of 20 Gary Graffman had made a name for himself as a classical pianist both in America and world-wide. In 1948 he won the prestigious
Leventritt Award.
From his debut, Gary Graffman continued a successful piano career. He furthered his piano studies with
Vladimir Horowitz and
Rudolph Serkin. During this time he played with many symphonies and orchestras and performed concerts and recitals including at the
Marlboro Music Festival. Over the next three decades he toured and recorded extensively, performing solo with orchestras around the globe.
Probably Graffman's most famous recorded performance was for the soundtrack of the 1979
Woody Allen movie
Manhattan in which he played
George Gershwin's
Rhapsody In Blue, accompanied by the
New York Philharmonic. Portions of the Philharmonic/Graffman version has been featured countless times in TV and movies over the last quarter century.
Then in 1979 he suffered an injury to his right hand. This setback encouraged him to pursue other interests such as writing, photography and Oriental Art. In 1980 he joined the staff at the Curtis Institute of Music where his career had begun.Seven left-hand works have been commissioned for Graffman. In 1993, for example, he performed the world premiere of
Ned Rorem's Piano Concerto No. 4, written specifically for the left hand, and in 2001 he premiered
Daron Hagen's concerto
Seven Last Words.Through his longstanding service and devotion to music, he has received honorary doctorate degrees and was honored by the cities of
Philadelphia and New York and also received the Governor's Arts Award by the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania. In addition to his administrative responsibilities, Graffman remains active as a teacher and coach of piano and
chamber music. His notable students include the piano virtuosos,
Lang Lang and
Yuja Wang.
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Biography at Curtis Institute of Music website
