Russell Sherman (born March 25, 1930,

New York, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

) is an American classical pianist, educator and author. Russell Sherman made his debut at The Town Hall in New York at age 15, later studying piano with

Eduard Steuermann Eduard Steuermann (June 18, 1892 in Sambor, Austro-Hungarian Empire – November 11, 1964 in New York City) was an Austrian (and later American) pianist and composer. Steuermann studied piano with Vilém Kurz at the Lemberg Conservatory and Fe ...

and composition with Erich Itor Kahn. Sherman has performed as a piano soloist with the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

, the

Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic, commonly referred to as the LA Phil, is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at th ...

, the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1 ...

, the

Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenu ...

, and the

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscripti ...

. He has performed in recital throughout the United States, Europe, South America, and the former Soviet Union. He is currently artist-in-residence at

New England Conservatory The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on ...

, where over thirty years ago he met and instructed Wha Kyung Byun, a woman who later became a well-known piano instructor herself as well as his wife. Sherman's efforts as an educator have produced a number of pianists of note, among them,

Marc-André Hamelin Marc-André Hamelin, OC, CQ (born September 5, 1961), is a Canadian virtuoso pianist and composer. Hamelin is recognized worldwide for the originality and technical proficiency of his performances of the classic repertoire. He has received 11 ...

Christopher O'Riley Christopher O'Riley is an American classical pianist and public radio show host. He was the host of the weekly National Public Radio program ''From the Top''. O'Riley is also known for his piano arrangements of songs by alternative. Early lif ...

, Tian Ying, Keren Hanan, HaeSun Paik,

Ning An Ning An, also known as An Ning (; born 1976), is a Chinese-born American pianist. Biography Born in December, 1976, Ning An began his musical studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music with Olga Radosavljevich and Sergei Babayan. He subsequent ...

, Hung-Kuan Chen, Minsoo Sohn, Christopher Taylor, Hugh Hinton,

Soojin Ahn Soo-jin, also spelled Su-jin or Sue-jin, is a Korean unisex given name. Its meaning differs based on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 67 hanja with the reading " soo" and 48 hanja with the reading "jin" on the South Kor ...

, Randall Hodgkinson, Heng-Jin Park, Zenan Yu, Rina Dokshitsky, Livan, Sergey Schepkin, Kathleen Supové, and Craig Smith. Sherman's book of short essays on piano playing related concerns, "Piano Pieces," was published by

Farrar, Straus and Giroux Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger Williams Straus Jr. and John C. Farrar. FSG is known for publishing literary books, and its authors have won numerous awards, including Pulitzer ...

in 1996. Among the observations in "Piano Pieces" is Sherman's comment that, "Music dispels the fear of mortality and the need for rigid and permanent identities. Music rejects the nine-to-five schedule, the hunger for cash, the encroachments and limits of crass appetite."

References

External links

Russell Sherman's New England Conservatory faculty pageDavid Dubal interview with Russell Sherman
WNCN-FM, 11-Nov-1984 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sherman, Russell 1930 births Living people American classical pianists Male classical pianists American male pianists American music educators New England Conservatory faculty Jewish classical pianists 20th-century American pianists 21st-century classical pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American pianists