Steven DeGroote

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Steven DeGroote

Background information
Born 1953
Johannesburg, South Africa
Died May 22, 1989
Johannesburg, South Africa
Genre(s) Classical
Occupation(s) Pianist, pedagogue
Instrument(s) Piano

Steven DeGroote (1953 – 1989) was a South African classical pianist.

Steven DeGroote was born in Johannesburg, South Africa into a Belgian family in which, for three generations, almost every member had been a professional musician. His grandmother was a recipient of the Prix de Rome in Belgium, and his father the conductor of the Cape Town University Symphony. As a youngster, DeGroote toured South Africa performing trios with his father on violin and brother on cello.

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[edit] Training and early competitions

He trained with Lamar Crowson in Cape Town, and with Eduardo del Pueyo at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels, graduating in 1971 with first prize in piano.

In 1972, DeGroote entered the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where he studied with Rudolf Serkin, Mieczysław Horszowski, and Seymour Lipkin. He graduated in 1975.

In 1976, DeGroote took honours in the Edgar Leventritt Competition in New York City. In May 1977, he won the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York. In September of that year, he was awarded the Grand Prize at the Van Cliburn Competition in Fort Worth, Texas. In that same competition, he also took prizes for Best Performance of a Commissioned Work and Best Performance of Chamber Music, the only winner in the history of the competition to take all prizes.

[edit] Professional career

He gave his New York debut recital on November 8, 1977 at the 92nd Street Y. His Van Cliburn Prize Carnegie Hall debut recital was held on December 12, 1977.

After winning the Van Cliburn, DeGroote's international career took him all over the world. In the United States, he performed with orchestras such as the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington DC, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Denver Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and the Philadelphia Orchestra; in Canada, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra; in Europe, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg, the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre National de France, and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra (Baden-Baden), and the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra, Heilbronn; and in Britain, with nearly all the major British orchestras.

His debut, in 1981, at The Proms, playing the Concerto in F (Gershwin) with Andrew Litton conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, was televised live by the BBC.

In 1983-1984, he toured the US as soloist with the Warsaw Philharmonic conducted by Kazimierz Kord, and, in 1987, England with the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg conducted by Hans Graf.

He worked with such distinguished conductors as Gerd Albrecht, Serge Baudo, Edo de Waart, Charles Dutoit, Jörg Faerber, Michael Gielen, Günther Herbig, Eugen Jochum, Bernard Klee, Kiril Kondrashin, Andrew Litton, Lorin Maazel, Karl Münchinger, Eugene Ormandy, Klaus Tennstedt, Antoni Wit, and David Zinman.

An accomplished chamber musician, he regularly partnered leading chamber ensembles such as the Guarneri Quartet and the Chilingirian Quartet (in which his brother Philip is the cellist).

[edit] Teaching

In 1981, he joined the faculty of Arizona State University and divided his time between performing and teaching. In 1987, he succeeded Lili Kraus as artist-in-residence at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. In April that year, he was honored by the Texas Senate for his 'outstanding contribution to music', in a resolution expressing the Senate's 'highest regard and admiration for him'.

[edit] Piloting and end of life

DeGroote was an amateur pilot. In 1985 he survived a severe crash while attempting to land near Phoenix. His lung and aorta were punctured. After extensive surgery and rehabilitation, DeGroote recuperated and resumed flying and piano playing. His miraculous recovery was essayed on CBS News Sunday Morning by Charles Kuralt.

In 1989 he returned to South Africa to visit family and for a concert tour. There, he was hospitalized with tuberculosis and pneumonia. He died in Johannesburg on May 22, 1989 from multiple organ failure.

[edit] Selected recordings

  • Béla Bartók: String Quartet No. 6; Piano Quintet. Chilingirian Quartet, Steven DeGroote (pno). Chandos CHAN 8660
  • Erich Wolfgang Korngold: Orchestral Works, Vol. 2: Much Ado About Nothing, Incidental Music and Suite, Sursum Corda, and Concerto for Piano Left Hand and Orchestra. Steven DeGroote (pno), Northwest German Philharmonic Orchestra, Werner Andreas Albert (cond). CPO
  • Sergei Prokofiev: Piano Sonata No. 8; Romeo & Juliet - Suite for Piano. Steven DeGroote (pno). Apex 0927 48306 2
  • Max Reger: Piano Concerto in F minor, Op. 114. Steven DeGroote (pno), SWF-Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden, Michael Gielen (cond). Intercord Gielen-Edition (INT 860.90)
  • In Memory of Steven De Groote (1953-1989): Sergei Prokofiev: Piano Sonata No. 8; Romeo & Juliet - Suite for Piano; Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 2 No. 2; Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 52 'Waldstein'. Steven DeGroote (pno). Finlandia 1576-57703-2

[edit] References

The New York Times: May 24, 1989.