Remembering Leon Fleisher

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra family joins the music world in mourning the loss of legendary American pianist, conductor and pedagogue Leon Fleisher, who died August 2, 2020, in Baltimore, Maryland. He was 92.

Born in San Francisco on July 23, 1928, Fleisher began playing the piano at the age of four, and five years later he became a student of Artur Schnabel. At 16 in 1944, he made his debut performing Brahms’ First Piano Concerto with the San Francisco Symphony and then with the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall, both under Pierre Monteux. The following year, he made his debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with Leonard Bernstein conducting at the Ravinia Festival.

In 1964, Fleisher lost the use of his right hand due to focal dystonia, forcing him to concentrate on repertoire written for the left hand. By the late 1990s, he had regained use of his right hand. A tireless pedagogue, he was (according to his son Julian) still teaching and conducting master classes online as recently as the week before his death.

Over the course of seven decades, Fleisher appeared with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on numerous occasions, both in Orchestra Hall and at the Ravinia Festival. A complete list can be found here: Remembering Leon Fleisher.