Lowenthal, Jerome (Nathaniel)
Lowenthal, Jerome (Nathaniel)
Lowenthal, Jerome (Nathaniel), American pianist; b. Philadelphia, Feb. 11,1932. He studied piano at an early age; made his debut with the Philadelphia Orch. at the age of 13, then took lessons with Samaroff at the Philadelphia Cons. (1947–50). While taking courses at the Univ. of Pa. (B.A., 1953), he received private piano instruction from Kapell; continued his studies with Steuermann at the Juilliard School of Music in N.Y. (M.S., 1956) and with Cortot at the École Normale de Musique (licence de concert, 1958). In 1957 he took first prize in the Darmstadt competition. He traveled to Israel, where he gave concerts and taught at the Jerusalem Academy of Music; returned to the U.S. in 1961. He made his professional debut as soloist with the N.Y. Phil. in 1963, and subsequently toured throughout North and South America, the Middle East, and the Far East. His repertoire embraces the standard piano literature as well as contemporary works; among composers who wrote special works for him were George Rochberg and Ned Rorem.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire