Menahem Pressler

Menahem Pressler, founding member, and pianist of the Beaux Arts Trio, has established himself among the world’s most distinguished and honoured musicians, with a career that spans six decades. He continues to captivate audiences throughout the world as a performer and pedagogue, performing solo and chamber music recitals to great critical acclaim while maintaining a dedicated and robust teaching career. Born in Magdeburg, Germany in 1923, Pressler fled Nazi Germany in 1939 and emigrated to Palestine. Pressler’s world-renowned career was launched after winning first prize at the Debussy International Piano Competition in San Francisco in 1946. This was followed by his successful American debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Eugene Ormandy. Since then, Pressler’s extensive tours of North America and Europe have included performances with the orchestras of New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Dallas, San Francisco, London, Paris, Brussels, Oslo, Helsinki, Berlin, Amsterdam, and many others. After nearly a decade of an illustrious and praised solo career, the 1955 Berkshire Music Festival saw Pressler’s debut as a chamber musician, where he appeared as pianist with the Beaux Arts Trio. This collaboration quickly established his reputation as one of the world’s most revered chamber musicians. The 2007-2008 season was nothing short of bitter-sweet, as violinist Daniel Hope, cellist Antonio Meneses, and Menahem Pressler took their final bows as The Beaux Arts Trio, marking the end of one of the most celebrated and revered chamber music careers of all time, spanning 50 years. What saw the end of one artistic legacy also witnessed the beginning of another, as Pressler continues to dazzle audiences throughout the world, both as piano soloist and collaborating chamber musician, including performances with the Juilliard, Emerson, American, and Ariel Quartets, among many others. For nearly 60 years, Pressler has taught on the piano faculty at the world-renowned Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he holds the rank of Distinguished Professor of Music as the Charles Webb Chair. Equally as illustrious as his performing career, Pressler has been hailed as “Master Pedagogue” and has had prize-winning students in all major international piano competitions, which include Queen Elizabeth, Busoni, Rubinstein, Leeds, and VanCliburn competitions. He also presents master classes throughout the world and continues to serve on the jury of many major international piano competitions.