Forum on the Humanities and the Public World

Leon Fleisher, pianist and conductor
In Conversation

Thursday, April 3, 2008
7pm  | UC Berkeley Art Museum, Museum Theater,
(2621 Durant Ave, access via sculpture garden)

Fleisher started piano lessons in his native San Francisco at age four, and gave his first recital at eight. A year later he began studying with the great German pianist Artur Schnabel, and by 16, in 1944, made his debut with the New York Philharmonic. He was the first American to win the prestigious Queen Elisabeth of Belgium competition, in 1952. Fleisher's career was on a smooth upward trajectory for the next dozen years, performing all over the world with every major orchestra and conductor, and recording several classic albums.

Fleisher was suddenly struck silent when two fingers of his right hand became immobile in 1965. Undergoing many treatments that gave only temporary relief, he was forced to "retire" when only 37 years old. This was the defining moment in his career until recently, when he began treatments that finally helped relieve the neurological affliction known as focal dystonia that had been plaguing him for more than half his life.

Overcoming decades of seemingly insurmountable challenges, Fleisher has been playing with both hands again for the last several seasons, and recently made his first two-hand recording in 40 years: the critically acclaimed Two Hands. The same title was given to a biographical film by Nathaniel Kahn nominated for Best Documentary Short at the 2006 Academy Awards. In May 2007, his recording of the Brahms Piano Quintet with the Emerson Quartet [Deutsche Grammophon] was released to rave reviews, and his recital and concerto appearances in recent years have re-affirmed his place among the legendary pianists and musicians of our time.

In the nearly 40 years since Leon Fleisher's keyboard career was so suddenly curtailed, he has followed two parallel careers – as conductor and teacher - while learning to play the extensive but limiting repertoire of compositions for piano left-hand. Mr. Fleisher's reputation as a conductor was quickly established when he founded the Theatre Chamber Players at the Kennedy Center in 1967 and became Music Director of the Annapolis Symphony in 1970. He made his New York conducting debut at the 1970 Mostly Mozart Festival and in 1973 became Associate Conductor of the Baltimore Symphony. He has appeared as guest conductor with the Cleveland Orchestra and the Symphony Orchestras of Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Montreal and Detroit, among others. He also had a regular association with the New Japan Philharmonic as its Principal Guest Conductor, leading the orchestra in a series of concerts each season, as well as with the Chamber Music Orchestra of Europe and the Gustav Mahler Chamber Orchestra.

Teaching has been a crucially important element in Leon Fleisher's life. As a revered pedagogue, he has held the Andrew W. Mellon Chair at the Peabody Conservatory of Music since 1959, and also serves on the faculties of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. From 1986-97 he was Artistic Director of the Tanglewood Music Center. His teaching activities at the Aspen, Lucerne, Ravinia and Verbier festivals, among others, have brought him in contact with students from all over the world. He has also given master classes at the Salzburg Mozarteum, the Paris Conservatory, the Ravel Academy at St. Jean de Luz, the Reina Sofia School in Madrid, the Mishkenot in Jerusalem and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Fleisher received the 2007 Kennedy Center Honors at the 30th annual celebration of the arts in December where he will be recognized as 'a consummate musician whose career is a testament to the life-affirming power of art.' This year's World Piano Pedagogy Conference is dedicated to Fleisher, celebrating him as 'one of the giants of classical music.' In 2005, Fleisher was honored by the French government and was named to the rank of Commander in the French Order of Arts and Letters, the highest rank of its kind. He and his wife-Katherine Jacobson-Fleisher-have opened their private life by regularly playing duos together for audiences around the world.

Links:

Wikipedia Entry
Peabody Institute Faculty Profile
30th Annual Kennedy Center Honors
"Leon Fleisher: Kennedy Center Honoree in Recital"
includes Fleisher playing Schubert in concert (NPR, 12 Sept 2007)
"Why a pianist used Botox. Hint: It wasn't for his looks" (a review of documentary Two Hands, SF Chronicle, 2 August 2007)
"A Pianist for Whom Never Was Never an Option" (New York Times, 10 June 2007)
Listen: interview on Talk of the Nation (NPR, 16 Nov 2004)
"Safely Grazing Again" (Interview with Newsweek, 1 April 2004)