Leventritt Competition Explained
The Leventritt Competition was a highly prestigious international competition for classical pianists and violinists. It was founded in 1939 by the Edgar M. Leventritt Foundation Inc. of Cold Spring, New York, in memory of jurist Edgar M. Leventritt. The Leventritt Competition has now been discontinued.
More recently, the Cliburn contest in Fort Worth, Texas, has attracted more publicity. The Leventritt award was sparingly given, and there was no award presented if the judges felt the required standard was not achieved.
Award winners
- 1940: Sidney Foster, piano[1]
- 1941: Erno Valasek, violin; New York Times, October 11, 1941, Amusement Section; The New York Times, February 16,1942; New York Times
- 1943: Eugene Istomin, piano
- 1945: Louise Meiszner, piano
- 1946: David Nadien, violin
- 1947: Alexis Weissenberg, piano
- 1948: Jean Graham, piano
- 1949: Gary Graffman, piano
- 1954: Van Cliburn, piano[2]
- 1955: Betty-Jean Hagen, violin[3]
- 1957: Anton Kuerti, piano
- 1958: Arnold Steinhardt, violin
- 1959: Malcolm Frager, piano
- 1962: Michel Block, piano
- 1964: Itzhak Perlman, violin
- 1965: Tong-Il Han, piano
- 1967: Kyung-wha Chung, violin and Pinchas Zukerman, violin (joint recipients)[4]
- 1969: Joseph Kalichstein, piano
- 1976: No first prize awarded
- 1978: Mitchell Stern, violin
- 1981: Cecile Licad, piano
Notes and References
- Leventritt Prize to Pianist; Award System is Changed. New York Times, January 23, 1981, Section C, p. 20.
- Publicity, Artistry Vaults Van Cliburn To 1 Million. March 29, 2016. Billboard. January 6, 1962. 8. ...in 1954 he won the important U.S. piano competition, the Edgar M. Leventritt Foundation award....
- Web site: King. Betty Nygaard. McIntosh. R. Dale. Betty-Jean Hagen. The Canadian Encyclopedia. March 29, 2016. July 2, 2006.
- Leventritt Fund Winners. March 29, 2016. Billboard. May 27, 1967. 40. Kyung Wha Chung, 19, of Korea, and Pinchas Zuckcrman, 18, of Israel were declared winners of the 25th International Competition of the Edgar M. Leventritt Foundation last Tuesday (17), the first time two performers were named..
