Eugene Istomin

He was a winner of the Leventritt Award and recorded extensively as a soloist and in a piano trio in which he collaborated with Isaac Stern and Leonard Rose.

Born in New York City of Russian-Jewish[1] and Ukrainian-Jewish[2] parents, Istomin was a child prodigy who in his early years studied at the Mannes School of Music.

His earliest public performances began at age six with his mother, and at 13 he entered the Curtis Institute, having had earlier advice from Alexander Siloti and his daughter Kyriena.

The Istomin-Stern-Rose Trio he formed with Isaac Stern and Leonard Rose made many recordings, particularly of music by Beethoven, Brahms and Schubert.

He also was known as a soloist, performing many concerts of orchestral music, with conductors such as Eugene Ormandy, Bruno Walter, Leonard Bernstein, Fritz Reiner, George Szell and Leopold Stokowski.

He was an avid reader and book collector and, eventually, attracted the interest of New York publishing magnate, William Jovanovich.