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Menahem Pressler

Born in Magdeburg on 16 December 1923, Menahem Pressler fled Nazi Germany in

1938. Itwas in Israel,where hewas raised, that he receivedmost of his training,with

the pianists Eliahu Rudiakov and Leo Kestenberg, a pupil of Ferruccio Busoni, followed

by lessonswithEduardSteuermann, alsoaBusoni disciple, in theUnitedStates.

His musical learning and his profound knowledge of the piano and chamber music

have earned him an undisputed reputation.

MenahemPressler’s international fame began to develop after he won first prize at

the Debussy Piano Competition in San Francisco in 1946, immediately followed by

his American debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Eugene

Ormandy. In 1955, the Berkshire Music Festival witnessed the debut of the Beaux

Arts Trio, which was to become a legendary group, acclaimed all over the world for

fifty-three years.

He gives masterclasses in Germany, France, Canada, Argentina, and Brazil, and is

a jury member at the Santander, Van Cliburn, and Queen Elisabeth competitions.

Appointed Distinguished Professor by Indiana University in Bloomington,

Menahem Pressler is now an honorary professor there. In 1998 he received a

Lifetime Achievement Award from

Gramophone

magazine and an Ehrenurkunde

award fromGerman music critics to mark forty years spent in the service of music.

In May 2000 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Recently, the French government decorated him with the rank of Commandeur

in the Ordre des Arts et Lettres, while the German government awarded him the

Deutsches Bundesverdienstkreuz in recognition of his entire career and conferred

German citizenship on him in September 2012.

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MENAHEM PRESSLER