Overture Magazine - 2015-2016 Season January-February 2016 | Page 15

Mr. Fleisher was born in San Francisco
in 1928. He began playing the piano at
the age of 4 and gave his first recital at
6. He studied keyboard with icon Artur
Schnabel from 1938–1948 and made his
formal public debut in 1944 with the New
York Philharmonic under the baton of
Pierre Monteux.
After winning the Queen Elisabeth
Competition in Belgium in 1952, Mr.
Fleisher went on to achieve international
acclaim. At the height of his success, in
1965, he was struck with focal dystonia,
rendering two fingers on his right hand
immobile. Mr. Fleisher focused on repertoire for the left hand only, forging a new
path as a soloist, conductor an XX