Gary Graffman (born 14 October 1928) is a classical pianist, teacher of piano and music administrator. October 14 is the 287th day of the year (288th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar). ... Pianist Claudio Arrau, Carnegie Hall, 1954. ...

Graffman was born in New York City to Russian-Jewish parents. 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. After graduating from Curtis in 1946, he made his professional solo debut with conductor Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra. By the age of 20 Gary Graffman had made a name for himself world-wide as a classical pianist. In 1948 he won the prestigious Leventritt Award. He then furthered his piano studies with Rudolph Serkin at the Marlboro Music Festival and informally with Vladimir Horowitz. Nickname: Location in the state of New York Coordinates: Country United States State New York Boroughs The Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens Staten Island Settled 1625 Government  - Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Area  - City  468. ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination... The Curtis Institute of Music is a conservatory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that offers courses of study leading to a performance Diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in Opera, and Professional Studies Certificate in Opera. ... Eugene Ormandy (November 18, 1899, Budapest, Hungary – March 12, 1985, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was an eminent American orchestral conductor. ... The Philadelphia Orchestra, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is one of the Big Five symphony orchestras in the United States and usually considered among the finest in the world. ... Rudolph Serkin(pianist; born March 28, 1903, Eger, Bohemia; died May 9, 1991) - also spelled as Rudolf Serkin. ... The Marlboro Music School and Festival is a retreat for advanced classical training and musicianship held for seven weeks each summer in Marlboro, Vermont. ... Vladimir Samoylovych Horowitz (Ukrainian: ; Russian: ) (1 October 1903 – 5 November 1989) was a Ukrainian-born, American classical pianist. ...

From the outset Graffman pursued a successful piano career. He played with numerous orchestras and performed concerts and recitals internationally. Over the next three decades he toured and recorded extensively, performing solo and with orchestras around the globe. In 1964, he recorded Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic. Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff, also Sergey Rachmaninov or Serge Rakhmaninov (Серге́й Васи́льевич Рахма́нинов), (April 1, 1873 – March 28, 1943) was a Russian composer, pianist... Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (Russian: , Rapsodiya na temu Paganini) is a piece of classical music for orchestra and solo piano by Sergei Rachmaninoff. ... Leonard Bernstein (IPA pronunciation: )[1] (August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, and pianist. ... The New York Philharmonic is the oldest active symphony orchestra in the United States. ...

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. Woody Allen (born Allen Stewart Königsberg on December 1, 1935) is a three-time Academy Award-winning American film director, writer, actor, jazz musician, comedian, and playwright. ... Manhattan is a 1979 romantic comedy film. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Cover of the original sheet music of the two piano version of Rhapsody in Blue. ...

In 1979 he sprained the ring finger of his right hand. Because of this injury he began re-fingering some passages for that hand in such a way as to avoid using the affected finger; unfortunately this altered technique exacerbated the injury rather than ameliorating it, ultimately forcing him to stop using his right hand altogether. This setback encouraged him to pursue other interests such as writing, photography, and Oriental art. In 1980 he joined the faculty at the Curtis Institute where his career had begun; he served as its President from 1995 through May, 2006. He continues as a faculty member at Curtis teaching piano.

More recent evidence suggests that Graffman's injury may be due to focal dystonia, a neurological disorder that causes loss of function and uncontrollable curling in the fingers. Fellow pianist Leon Fleisher suffers from the disorder as well. [1] [2] Focal dystonia is a neurological condition affecting a muscle or muscles in a part of the body causing an undesirable muscular contraction or twisting. ... Leon Fleisher Leon Fleisher (born July 23, 1928) is an American pianist and conductor. ...

Shortly after joining the Curtis faculty he published a memoir, I Really Should Be Practicing, which ranks as one of the best-written and most entertaining such books.

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. The American composer William Bolcom composed his Concerto for Two Pianos, Left Hand for Graffman and his close friend Leon Fleisher, who has also suffered from debilitating problems with his right hand. It received its first performance in Baltimore in April 1996. The concerto is constructed in such a way that it can be performed in one of three ways, with either piano part alone with reduced orchestra, or with both piano parts and the two reduced orchestras combined into a full orchestra. Ned Rorem (born October 23, 1923) is a noted American composer and diarist. ... Daron Aric Hagen (born November 4, 1961, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is considered to be one of the finest American composers of contemporary classical music and [opera]]. He studied composition at the Juilliard School, the Curtis Institute of Music, and privately with Leonard Bernstein. ... William Elden Bolcom (born May 26, 1938) is an American composer of chamber, operatic, and symphonic music. ... Leon Fleisher Leon Fleisher (born July 23, 1928) is an American pianist and conductor. ...

Through his longstanding service and devotion to music, Graffman has received honorary doctoral degrees, was honored by the cities of Philadelphia and New York, and 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 Lydia Artymiw, Lang Lang, and Yuja Wang. Nickname: Motto: Philadelphia maneto - Let brotherly love continue Location in Pennsylvania Coordinates: Country United States Commonwealth Pennsylvania County Philadelphia Founded October 27, 1682 Incorporated October 25, 1701 Government  - Mayor John F. Street (D) Area  - City 369. ... Capital Harrisburg Largest city Philadelphia Area  Ranked 33rd  - Total 46,055 sq mi (119,283 km²)  - Width 280 miles (455 km)  - Length 160 miles (255 km)  - % water 2. ... Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... Lang Lang For the Australian town, see Lang Lang. ... Yuja Wang (born 1987) is a Chinese classical pianist educated in the U.S. She was born in Beijing, began studying piano there at the age 6 and went on to study at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. ...

References and further reading

• http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30810FB385C0C778DDDAF0894D9484D81
• Graffman, Gary (1982). I Really Should Be Practicing. New York: Avon. ISBN 0-380-59873-6

External links

• Biography at Curtis Institute of Music website