Artur Balsam

Artur Balsam (February 8, 1906 in Warsaw, Poland[1] – September 1, 1994 in New York) was a Polish-born American classical pianist and pedagogue.He studied in Łódź, making his debut there at the age of 12 then enrolled at the Berlin Hochschule fur Musik. In 1930 he obtained the prestigious Mendelssohn Prize. In 1932 he made a tour of the United States with Yehudi Menuhin. With the rise of the Nazis, Balsam settled in America, where he became a celebrated accompanist to well-known artists, including Henri Temianka, with whom he performed twice in 1945 at Carnegie Hall. He also played much chamber music and gave occasional solo recitals. He served on the faculties of the Eastman School of Music, Boston University, and the Manhattan School of Music. He died of pneumonia at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan at the age of 88.