In Memoriam: Seymour Lipkin

According to an obituary recently published in The New York Times, the wonderful pianist and Juilliard faculty member Seymour Lipkin passed away on November 16th at age 88.  

I was fortunate enough to have heard Mr. Lipkin, who won first prize at the Rachmaninoff Competition in 1948, perform several times in the past few seasons.  He gave an impressive solo recital at Juilliard in 2013 where he expertly played sonatas by Mozart, Schubert and Beethoven.  More recently, he performed, again at Juilliard, at a joint recital with violinist Laurie Smukler.  In the solo portion of that program, he gave his interpretation of two impromptus from Schubert's Op. 90.  At the time, I described his work at the keyboard as "limpid."  Then, in an appearance with the Jupiter Symphony Players, he accompanied guest violinist Miriam Fried and members of the ensemble on Mozart's great piano quartet in G minor, K. 478.  

In addition to his considerable skills as a pianist, Mr. Lipkin was also an able conductor who served as music director and principal guest conductor of the Joffrey Ballet Company (1966-1979) and as music director of the Long Island Symphony (1963-1979).

I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Lipkin once at intermission before a performance and found him to be a friendly approachable man with a good sense of humor who appeared to sincerely appreciate my words of praise.  Though he never received the wide public recognition he most surely deserved, he was held in high esteem both by his colleagues and appreciative audiences.  He will be missed.