Lateiner, Jacob

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Lateiner, Jacob

Lateiner, Jacob, American pianist and teacher of Austrian-Polish descent; b. Havana, May 31, 1928. He studied piano with Jascha Fischermann in Havana (1934–40), with Isabelle Vengerova at the Curtis Inst. of Music in Philadelphia, where he also attended the chamber music classes given by Piatigorsky and Primrose. He likewise had lessons in compositions with Felix Greissle and Schoenberg. Having won the Philadelphia Youth Competition, he made his debut as soloist in Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto at a youth concert of the Philadelphia Orch. (Dec. 6, 1944); subsequently performed throughout America and in Europe. He appeared regularly in chamber music recitals with Heif-etz and Piatigorsky. From 1963 to 1970 he taught at the Mannes Coll. of Music in N.Y., and in 1966 he was appointed to the faculty of the Juilliard School of Music in N.Y. In addition to the standard repertoire, he has played a number of contemporary scores. He was soloist in the premiere of Elliott Carter’s Piano Concerto (1967).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire