Peter Serkin approached the keyboard with a discipline matching that of his father, Rudolf, yet he channeled his energies into fresh paths as both performer and explorer. While honoring the integrity that defined Rudolf’s career, Peter devoted himself to contemporary scores without abandoning the established canon.
Born in New York on July 24, 1947, Serkin showed an early fascination with music that led to initial instruction from his father. In 1958 he entered the Curtis Institute for lessons with Lee Luvisi, and further study with Mieczyslaw Horszowski, who continued performing until his death at age 100, along with guidance from flutist Marcel Moyse, shaped his developing artistry. By his early teens he had already appeared frequently in public, notably in performances of the Mozart Double Piano Concerto alongside George Szell, the Cleveland Orchestra, and his father.
Once he launched an independent career, Serkin turned decisively toward newer and less conventional repertory. A period spent in India strengthened his professional resolve and broadened his sense of musical possibility. He joined violinist Ida Kavafian, cellist Fred Sherry, and clarinetist Richard Stoltzman to establish the contemporary ensemble Tashi, which later reassembled in 2008 to record and present Messiaen’s music for the composer’s centenary. Additional frequent partners included Yo-Yo Ma, András Schiff, and the Budapest String Quartet.
Serkin’s discography and concert programs spanned several centuries, encompassing Bach and Mozart as well as a Koch International Classics recital devoted to Webern, Wolpe, Messiaen, Knussen, Wuorinen, Lieberson, and Takemitsu. He gave the premieres of Peter Lieberson’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in 1983 and Piano Concerto No. 2 in 1998, both with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Throughout his career he appeared with leading orchestras worldwide and at major festivals, while teaching at the Curtis Institute, the Juilliard School of Music, the Bard College Conservatory of Music, the Yale School of Music, and the Tanglewood Music Center; among his students were Simone Dinnerstein and Cecile Licad.
He continued performing and recording until shortly before his death from pancreatic cancer in 2020, remaining on the RCA Red Seal roster and releasing discs on Bridge and Naxos. In the mid-1980s he explored period instruments by recording Beethoven’s final six sonatas on a Graf fortepiano; those performances were reissued by Musical Concepts in 2007. In 2017 he set down Arnold Schoenberg’s Piano Concerto, Op. 42, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Seiji Ozawa for RCA Red Seal.
