Piano
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The Virtuous Black XXI: Nina Simone
Nina Simone, born Eunice Waymon on February 21, 1933, in Tryon, North Carolina, U.S.A., is the singer who created urgent emotional intensity by singing songs of love, protest, and Black empowerment in a dramatic style, with a rough-edged voice. A precocious child, Simone played piano and organ in girlhood. She became sensitive to racism when…
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The Life You Give: Claudio Arrau *1903
Claudio Arrau, born February 6 1903, in Chillán, Chile, was one of the most-renowned pianists of the 20th century. Arrau’s father, an eye doctor, died when Arrau—the youngest of three children—was one year old. His mother supported the family by giving piano lessons and must have been gratified when her own son proved to be…
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Martha Argerich — Early Recordings
A prodigy, Argerich was performing professionally by age eight. In 1955 she went to Europe, where her teachers included Friedrich Gulda and Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. She won two prestigious competitions in 1957 at age 16: the Geneva International Music Competition and the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition. In 1965 she won the Chopin Piano Competition…
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The Life You Give: Maurizio Pollini *1942
Pollini made his debut at age nine. He graduated from the Milan Conservatory in 1959 and won the Ettore Pozzoli Competition that same year, followed by the Warsaw Chopin Competition in 1960. He appeared on the stage more frequently during the second half of the 1960s, playing in the United States for the first time…
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The Life You Give: Nikolai Medtner *1880
Russian composer Nikolai Karlovich Medtner (or Metner) was born January 4 1880 in Moscow, to parents of German descent who had lived in Russia for several generations. The family background was musical; his mother’s brother was Fedor Gedike (Theodore Goedicke), a minor Romantic composer and professional pianist. He received early piano lessons from his mother…
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The Life You Give: András Schiff *1953
András Schiff is among the most prominent members of a generation of Hungarian pianists born in the years following World War II, along with such artists as Zoltán Kocsis, Dezso Ránki, and Jenö Jandó. Of this remarkable group, Schiff has achieved the strongest international reputation, due not only to his decision to pursue his career…
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The Life You Give: Scott Joplin 1868
Ragtime in The Aristipposian Poet Club, tonight at 11pm EST, on Clubhouse. Scott Joplin, (born 1867/68, Texas — composer and pianist known as the “king of ragtime” at the turn of the 20th century. Joplin spent his childhood in northeastern Texas, though the exact date and place of his birth are unknown. By 1880 his…
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Happy Birthday, Meredith Monk! 1942
On this day, Meredith Jane Monk came to Manhattan for the very first time.
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Weekly Woman: Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel
The Aristipposian Poet Club presents a room with the music of Fanny Mendelssohn. Today — Thursday November 11 2021, at 6pm EST, on Clubhouse
Sila Blume 