Gary Graffman obit

Gary Graffman dies, 97

 

He was not on the list.

The US pianist and educator Gary Graffman – mentor to Lang Lang and Yuja Wang – died in New York last night at the age of 97.

Gary was a legend three times over. His piano career produced international engagements and CBS recordings. When a finger injury stalled his progress, he commissioned works for the left hand alone and premiered the one-hand concerto that Korngold wrote for Paul Wittgenstein.

He went on to become president of the Curtis Institute for 20 years, nurturing as both protector and teacher the young Chinese talents Lang Lang and Yuja Wang, and raising the college’s repute to its highest in decades. He wisely withheld Yuja and Lang Lang from competitions.

His wife, Naomi, who died in 2019 after 67 years of marriage, was his partner in all things. She worked at a New York mega-agency and knew how the business functioned. As a couple, they were warm-hearted, charming and wonderfully indiscreet, though never at the expense of students, whom they reared as tenderly as parents.

Lydia Artymiw writes: I’m heartbroken to learn that Gary Graffman, my beloved teacher, passed away peacefully this morning. Fortunately I saw Gary a couple of weeks ago in New York, and we had a wonderful visit. My first lesson with him was on 9/9/1968, and our lessons continued until 1979. He was the most devoted teacher and mentor possible. Gary held his students to the highest standards and could be extremely critical, but he also had a great sense of humor. Prior to the Leventritt Competition in 1976, he listened to all of my repertoire (about 5 hours of music) several times. There are very few teachers who would invest this amount of time and hard work into helping and supporting a student. I will cherish my memories of Gary and Naomi and will always be indebted to them.