Leonid Hambro
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Leonid Hambro (June 26, 1920 Chicago - October 23, 2006 New York City) was an American concert pianist.
[edit] Life
He was the son of immigrant Russian Jews; his father was a pianist accompanying silent films.
He studied at the Juilliard School, and won First Prize at the International Piano Contest at Naumburg, Germany in 1946. He was the musical sidekick of Victor Borge for ten years, from 1961 to 1970. In 1970 he became the Head of the Piano Department of the California Institute of the Arts, at Valencia, California, and Assistant Dean of the School of Music, holding these posts until 1992.
Leonid Hambro was Artist in Residence of the Aspen Institute, the official pianist of The New York Times and radio WQXR, New York. He played with the P. D. Q. Bach performances and the Hoffnung Musical Spoof Concerts. He published with Jascha Zayde The Complete Pianist (Ludlow Music Inc., New York). He composed the piano piece Happy Birthday Dear Ludwig (Alfred Publishing).
On December 22, 2003, he entertained the members of the New York Atheists Inc. at their first annual NYC Atheists Solstice Dinner and Party at the Hunan 5th Avenue Restaurant. He claimed to have been born an Atheist, and never having belonged to any congregation throughout his life.[1]
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- Obituary, Jewish Chronicle, January 19, 2007 p.45
