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Leon Fleisher

Pianist

Leon Fleisher was born on July 23, 1928 in San Francisco. Fleisher was well on his way to conquering the music world at age 16 when he was singled out as "one of the most gifted of the younger generation of keyboard artists" by Olin Downes in The New York Times, and soon hailed as "the pianistic find of the century" by the great conductor Pierre Monteux. He was cruelly sidelined at the height of his powers by a rare neurological disease that lost him the use of his right hand. Undeterred, while being told by his doctors that he would never play again, he became an inspirational teacher and an inspired conductor, all the while playing--and, in fact, revitalizing--the left-handed repertory. Fleisher was, as the Times dubbed him, "a pianist for whom never was never an option." He underwent brain surgery, grueling experimental treatments and years of trials that would have discouraged most people. Then, against all odds and baffling medical experts, he returned. "His comeback," wrote Holly Brubach in The New York Times in 2007, "has catapulted him up next to Lance Armstrong as a symbol of the indomitable human spirit and an inspiration to a broader public."

Fleisher had his piano debut at the age of 8, began studies with Artur Schnabel at 9 and made his San Francisco Symphony debut at 14. At age 16 he had his Carnegie Hall debut, playing with the New York Philharmonic under Pierre Monteux. He won the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition in Belgium in 1952, became one of the most sought-after soloists and recitalists in the world's finest concert halls and began a rich series of recordings with, among others, George Szell and The Cleveland Orchestra. His landmark version of Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms concertos as well as his solo recordings of Schubert and his explorations of the American repertory would become cult classics.

Even before losing the use of his right hand, which forced a radical change in his musical life in 1965, Fleisher had already gravitated toward education and conducting, which he studied with Monteux. As co-founder and director of the Kennedy Center's Theater Chamber Players, Fleisher has been an energizing powerhouse behind that most delicate and personal of musical fields. As a conductor, his accomplishments have included tenures as associate conductor of the Baltimore Symphony and music director of the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra and the Tanglewood Music Center. He has also conducted with the Baltimore Opera. His associations with the Peabody Conservatory of Music, where he has been on the faculty since 1959, the Curtis Institute of Music, and the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto have turned Fleisher's generosity of spirit into an exhilarating wave of influence over new generations of pianists. His students, so far, include piano greats such as André Watts, Lorin Hollander, Yefin Bronfman and Louis Lortie. When limited to performing with the left hand alone, Fleisher championed that repertory and created definitive interpretations of Ravel and Britten. He also encouraged and inspired composers to create new works for the left hand, a mission that has resulted in what is, perhaps, the most original American work of that genre: William Bolcom's Concerto for Two Pianos Left Hand, composed for Fleisher and his friend Gary Graff, who also suffered neurological problems with his right hand. Curtis Curtis-Smith's Concerto for the Left Hand was composed for Fleisher as well as major works by Lukas Foss and Gunter Schuller.

Fleisher was named "Instrumentalist of the Year" in 1994 by Musical America. He has received honorary doctorates from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Townson State University, the Boston Conservatory and the Cleveland Institute of Music. Johns Hopkins University gave him its President's Medal. Filmmaker Nathaniel Kahn's short documentary "Two Hands" chronicled Fleisher's heroic journey and was nominated for an Academy Award in 2007.

"In the end," wrote Anthony Tommasini in The New York Times, "his diverse legacy may well prove more pervasive and lasting than if he had simply continued his career as a pre-eminent two-handed pianist." Still, Fleisher needed to play again, and he has. Returning to Carnegie Hall at the age of 67 for his first two-handed concert there in nearly four decades, Fleisher made history once again. "The listener was immediately impressed by the pearly beauty of Fleisher's sounds--as gentle as it was firm, ruminative and intensely poetic yet without any smearing of the melodic line," wrote Tim Page in The Washington Post in 1996 after the Carnegie Hall concert. "Indeed, I would rather listen to Fleisher, even in his current, delicate shape, than to most other pianists now before the public." Of his journey, Fleisher has said, "I'm not sure I would change anything that happened to me."