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Rosalyn Tureck

ROSALYN TURECK: Performer - piano, harpsichord, clavichord, organ, conductor; Editor, Educator; born Chicago, Illinois, Dec. 14, 1914; died New York, July 17, 2003.

Studies: Piano with Sophia Brilliant-Liven, 1925-9, Jan Chiapusso, 1929-31, Harpsichord with Gavin Williamson, 1931-32, Olga Samaroff, 1931-35, Juilliard School of Music, 1935, 2 Theremin instruments, Theremin, New York City, 1931-32, Grad. cum laude, 1935

Honorary Mus.D.: Colby Coll., 1964, Roosevelt U., 1968, Wilson Coll., 1968, Oxford U., Eng., 1977, Music and Arts Inst., San Francisco, 1987.

Honorary Fellowships: Visiting Fellow, St. Hilda's College, Oxford University, England 1974-, Honorary Life Fellow, St. Hilda's College, Oxford University 1974-; Visiting Fellow, Wolfson College, Oxford University, 1975-.

Professorships and Lecturer: Mem. Faculty Philadelphia. Conservatory Music, 1935-42, Mannes Sch., N.Y.C., 1940-4, Juilliard Sch. Music, N.Y.C., 1943-55, Columbia U., N.Y.C., 1953-5. U. California., San Diego, 1966-72; Visiting Prof. Washington U., St. Louis, 1963-4, Life Fellow, St. Hilda's College, Oxford University, 1975, Visiting Fellow, Wolfson College, Oxford University, 1978, U. MD, 1981-5, Yale U., 1991-3, Regents Lecturer U. California, 1995; lectr. numerous ednl. instns., U.S., Eng., Spain, Denmark, Holland, Can., Israel, Brazil, Argentina, Chile; lectr. Royal Inst. Great Britain, 1993, Boston U., 1993, '94, Smithsonian Instn., 1994, U. California., Santa Barbara, 1995, Hebrew U., Israel, Royal Institution of Great Britain, London, 1994, U. Southampton, Oxford U., 1993, 10th International Congress of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science, Florence, Italy, 1995, Annual Master Classes, Oxford University, since 1995; Institute for Advanced Musical Studies, Oxford, 1997-.

Founder: Composers of Today, New York City, 1949-53, Society for Contemporary music; Founder, Dir. Tureck Bach Players, London, 1957, N.Y.C., 1981, with Bach festivals, Eng., Ireland, Spain, 1959-, N.Y.C., Carnegie Hall Series, 1975-; Founder, Dir., International Bach Soc., Inst. For Bach Studies, N.Y.C., 1968; Annual 3-week Symposia - Lectures, Performances at Lincoln Center, New York City; Founder Dir. Tureck Bach Research Foundation, Oxford, UK, 1994, First Annual Symposium, Structure: Principles and Applications in the Sciences and Music, Dec. 15-17 1995; Second Annual Symposium, 19, 20, 21 April 1997, Structure; The Notion of Authenticity; Third Annual Symposium, 9, 10 May 1998, Structure, The Concept of Concept. Director, International Institute of Advanced Musical Studies, August 1997, December 1997, August 1998, December 1998, June 1999. Fourth Annual Symposium, May 13-14, 2000.

Television: Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 (complete) Granada TV, Eng., 1961; numerous TV appearances, US, Canada, 1961-, including Wm. F. Buckley's Firing Line, 1970, '85, '87, '89, '99, Today Show, CBS, New York; Rome, Telecom 1996, '97.

Films: Tureck on Television - 2 Films, CBS, 1960s, released by VAI; Rosalyn Tureck Plays Bach, 'Fantasy and Fugue', CBS, 1972; Rosalyn Tureck plays on Harpsichord and Organ, 1977; 'Joy of Bach', 1978; Camera Three: 'Bach on the Frontier of the Future', 1975; CBS film, Ephesus, Turkey.

Debut: solo recital, Chicago., Age 9, 1924, soloist Ravinia Park, Chicago., 1926, 2 all-Bach recitals, Chicago., 1930; Carnegie Hall, Theremin electronic instruments, 1932; N.Y.C. debut Carnegie Hall with Philadelphia. Orch., 1936; series 6 all-Bach recitals, Town Hall, N.Y.C., 1937, ann.

European Debut: Copenhagen, 1947, Bach series, 3 recitals.

London Debut: 1953, Bach series, 3 recitals

European Tours: 1953...

World Tours: in Far East, India, Europe, 1971, S. Am., 1986, '87, '88, '89, '91, '92, Europe, Israel, Turkey, Spain, 1986-90, Argentina, Chile, 1989, '90, '91, '92, Casals Festival, 1991; N.Y.C. series, Met. Music Art and Carnegie Hall, 1969-; including all-Bach series, varied recital programs, soloist and soloist/conductor with leading orchs. U.S., Can., Europe, S. Africa, S. Am., Israel and the Tureck Bach Players, London, Glynebourne, Dublin, Wales, New York.

Annual all-Bach series: N.Y.C., 1944-54, '59 - - '80s, London since 1953 - - - - - -, Copenhagen , 1956- - - -, Pasadena, CA., California Institute of Technology, 1938 - - , 1960 - - -'70s

Festivals: All-Bach Programs, solo recitals and as conductor of Tureck Bach Players (see below)

Concert Tours: Extensive Annual International tours since 1947-; continuing annual concert tours, recitals, master classes - Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Eng., Russia, Germany, Far East - Hong Kong, Singapore, India, U.S., Denmark, Sweden, Norway, France, the British Isles.

Conductor, Soloist: Collegium Musicum, Copenhagen, 1957, London Philharm. Orch. 1959-, N.Y. Philharm., 1960, Tureck Bach Players, London, 1960-72, San Antonio Symphony, 1962, Scottish Nat. Symph., Edinburgh, Glasgow, 1963, Israel Philharm., Tel Aviv, Haifa and Kol Israel orchs., 1963, Glyndebourne Tureck Bach Players, N.Y.C., 1967-, Kansas City Philhar., 1968, Washington National Symph., Washington D.C., 1970, Madrid Chamber Orch, 1970, Israel Festival, Tureck Bach Players, 1967, '69, '70, Carnegie Hall, N.Y., 1975-86, St. Louis Symph. Orch., 1981, conductor - soloist - Rome, Telecom, 1996.

Awards: Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit, Fed. Republic of Germany, 1979; recipient 1st prize Greater Chicago. Piano Playing Tournament, 1928, 1st Town Hall Endowment Award, 1937, Phi Beta award, 1946; First prize Schubert Memorial Contest winner, 1935, First prize Nat. Fedn. Music Clubs Competition, 1935, Musician of Yr., Music Tchrs. Nat. Assn., 1987; National Endowment for the Humanities grantee. Fellow Guildhall Sch. Music and Drama (hon.); member Royal Mus. Assn. London, Am. Musicological Soc., Inc., Soc. Musicians (London), Royal Philharm. Soc. London, Sebastian Bach de Belgique (hon.), Am. Bach Soc., Oxford Soc. Five Honorary Doctor's Degrees; Oxford University (fourth American woman in history so honoured), Roosevelt University, Colby College Maine, Institute of Arts and music, San Francisco, Wilson College, Pennsylvania. Philips Great Pianists of the Twentieth Century - Entire Clavierubung, J.S. Bach, CDs, 1999 and 2000.

Author: Introduction to the Performance of Bach, 3 vols., Oxford University Press, 1960, Authenticity, Boston University, 1994, Cells, Functions, Relationships, in Musical Structure and Performance, Proceedings of the Royal Inst. Of Great Britain, Oxford University Press, August 1996. Also revised and enlarged in Interaction, Journal of the Tureck Bach Research Foundation, Proceedings of the First Annual Symposium, Vol I, 1997. Numerous articles: J.S.Bach and Number, Symmetries and Other Relationships, Musical Authenticity - Is it a legitimate offspring of Janus? Interaction, Vol. II, 1998.

Editor: Creator & editor of journal Interaction, Proceedings of the Symposia of the Tureck Bach Research Foundation, Oxford, U.K. Volume 1, April.1997. Volume 2, December 1998; Tureck Bach Urtext Series: Italian Concerto, 1983, 2nd ed., 1991, Lute Suite, E minor, 1984, C minor, 1985, Schirmer Music, Inc; Paganini-Tureck: Moto Perpetuo, A. Scarlatti: Air and Gavotte, Carl Fischer; Bach-Sarabande, C minor, 1960 Oxf. Univ. Press

Creator of Societies: Composers of Today, New York, 1949-54; Tureck Bach Institute, New York, 1966-90; Tureck Bach Research Foundation, Oxford, 1993-.

Clubs: Century (N.Y.C., Oxford and Cambridge, London), Bohemians (N.Y.C.) (hon.).

The papers and manuscripts of Rosalyn Tureck are housed in the Mugar Memorial Library of Boston University.

All Rosalyn Tureck's recorded tapes and materials of her films, Master Classes, recitals and lectures are housed in New York Public Library archives at Lincoln Center.

Short Biographical Notes

This document was last updated 14 July 2019

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Rosalyn Tureck