Adolph Baller (July 30, 1909 – January 23, 1994) was an Austrian-American pianist who played classical and romantic music. He performed with

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin (22 April 191612 March 1999), was an American-born British violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in Britain. He is widely considered one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century. ...

for several years, toured internationally for decades with the

Alma Trio The Alma Trio was a classical piano trio established in 1942 at the ''Alma Estate'' of Yehudi Menuhin in Los Gatos, California. Original members The original founding members of the Alma Trio were Roman Totenberg, violin; Gabor Rejto, cello ...

, and was a renowned piano teacher at Stanford and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Early years

Baller was born July 30, 1909, in

Brody Brody (, ; ; ; ) is a city in Zolochiv Raion, Lviv Oblast, Zolochiv Raion, Lviv Oblast, western Ukraine. It is located in the valley of the upper Styr, Styr River, approximately northeast of the oblast capital, Lviv. Brody hosts the administrati ...

, which at the time was in the

Austro-Hungarian empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

and is now in western

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. At age 8, he went to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

to study piano with a former student of

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

. When he was 13 he gave his first solo performance, with the

Vienna Philharmonic Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; ) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world. The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. Its members are selected from the orchestra of ...

, following it with performances in all major European capitals. In March 1938, Nazi soldiers learned that he was a pianist and a Jew. They arrested him, beat him and crushed his hands. Baller's fiancée, Edith Strauss-Neustadt, interceded on his behalf with the Polish Consul in Vienna and helped to restore his hands through a long treatment so that he could resume his career. The couple escaped to

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, where they were married before coming to the United States in 1938.

Career

While Baller worked as a pianist for the WQXR radio station in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, he met violinist

and cellist Gabor Rejto. Beginning in 1941, the Ballers lived with their daughter, Nina, at Menuhin's Alma Estate in

Los Gatos Los Gatos (; ; ) is an incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population is 33,529 according to the 2020 census. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area just southwest of San Jose in the foothills of t ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. For several years Baller accompanied Menuhin in performances throughout the world and performed in chamber concerts, being particularly active during World War II with performances for troops deployed overseas. Under

's patronage, Baller, Gabor Rejto and

Roman Totenberg Roman Totenberg (January 1, 1911 – May 8, 2012) was a Polish-American violinist and educator. A child prodigy, he lived in Poland, Moscow, Berlin, and Paris, before formally immigrating to the U.S. in 1938, at age 27. He performed and taught ...

formed the

in 1942–1943 at Menuhin's Alma estate in

. Violinist Maurice Wilk joined the Alma Trio after Totenberg retired. Following Wilk's sudden death in 1963, violinist

Andor Toth Andor John Toth (June 16, 1925 – November 28, 2006) was an American classical violinist, conductor and educator with a musical career spanning over six decades. Toth played his violin on the World War II battlefields of Aachen, Germany; performe ...

joined the Alma Trio and remained their violinist for the next 15 years, before the trio wound down their touring in the mid-1980s.

Later years

Baller served as a faculty member at Stanford University for over 30 years. Among his most notable students were pianists

Jerome Rose Jerome Rose is an American pianist and educator. He has served on the faculty of the Mannes School of Music and has given masterclasses. Career Rose made his concert debut at the age of 15 with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. He was a ...

, William Corbett Jones,

Xenia Boodberg Lee Xenia Boodberg Lee (November 28, 1927 – September 27, 2004) was an American concert pianist, based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Early life Xenia Boodberg was born in Oakland, California, the only child of Peter A. Boodberg (1903-1972) and El ...

"Piano Recital"
''The San Francisco Examiner'' (May 2, 1969): 33. via

Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. It is owned by The ...

and

Nohema Fernández Nohema Fernández (born May 23, 1944) is a Cuban-born American pianist. Early life and education Born in Havana, Fernández began her formal musical studies with famed teacher César Pérez Sentenat, continuing later with María Jones de Castro a ...

. In 1984, the Music Guild at Stanford created an endowment fund in his honor, providing scholarship assistance to piano students at Stanford. He died at his home in

Palo Alto Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

on January 23, 1994, aged 84.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baller, Adolph Austrian classical pianists Austrian male classical pianists San Francisco Conservatory of Music alumni People from Brody 1909 births 1994 deaths 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century American pianists Jewish classical pianists American classical pianists American male classical pianists American people of Austrian-Jewish descent Jewish emigrants from Austria after the Anschluss to the United States 20th-century American male musicians