Szász, Tibor
Szász, Tibor
Szász, Tibor, Hungarian-born American pianist and teacher; b. Cluj, Romania, June 9, 1948. He began formal study at 13 with Elisa Ciolan and made his public orch. debut at 16; a laureate of the Georges Enesco International Piano Competition (1967), he subsequently appeared with leading orchs. throughout Romania. He was sentenced to prison during the Ceaus-escu regime but was granted refugee status; emigrated to the U.S. in 1970, obtaining citizenship in 1980. He made his N.Y. solo debut at Carnegie Recital Hall in 1977; subsequently studied with Leon Fleisher and Theodore Lettvin at the Univ. of Mich. (D.M.A., 1983). He taught at the Univ. of Dayton (1984-87), and in 1987 became pianist-in-residence at Duke Univ. in Durham, N.C. A musician of extraordinary sensitivity and intelligence, Szász has appeared as a recitalist, chamber artist, and soloist with orchs. throughout the U.S. and Europe in a repertoire ranging from Couperin to Mes-siaen; he has also lectured widely, given master classes, and publ. articles on Liszt and Beethoven.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire