Gary Graffman

Known as one of the greatest living pianists, Gary Graffman persisted with his musical career even after sustaining damage to his right hand. Over more than thirty years he has delighted listeners through recitals and orchestral appearances on stages across the globe.

Born in New York City to Russian émigré parents, he drew his strongest artistic guidance from his father, violinist Vladimir Graffman, who trained at the Imperial Conservatory under Leopold Auer. At seven Gary Graffman entered the Curtis Institute of Music as a piano pupil of Isabelle Vengerova; a decade later, upon completing his studies there, he made his professional debut, joining the Philadelphia Orchestra led by conductor Eugene Ormandy.

Thereafter he built a thriving concert career while refining his technique with Vladimir Horowitz and Rudolph Serkin. He appeared regularly with leading symphonies, gave solo recitals, and performed at the Marlboro Music Festival alongside Serkin. By twenty he had established an international reputation as a classical pianist, a standing reinforced in 1948 when he received the Leventritt Award.

During the following thirty years he toured extensively, appearing both alone and with major ensembles that included the Philadelphia, Cleveland, Boston, Chicago, and New York Orchestras. Programs featuring music by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Brahms, Chopin, and Beethoven proved especially popular, and he issued numerous recordings on the CBS and RCA labels.

His active performing life ended in 1979 after the right-hand injury, prompting him to explore writing, photography, and Oriental art. Yet he remained a central figure in classical music; in 1980 he returned to the Curtis Institute of Music—where his training had begun thirty-five years earlier—and rose to director of music by 1986 and president of the institution in 1995.

In 1993 he resumed the concert platform, collaborating with André Previn and the Curtis Institute Symphony Orchestra in Ned Rorem’s Piano Concerto No. 4, a work composed expressly for left hand. Across more than four decades of performances Gary Graffman demonstrated that obstacles need not prevent a musician’s success, leaving behind an extensive catalogue of recordings and interpretations of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century composers.