Musicמינדרו כץ

Mîndru Katz

Mindru Katz was a Romanian-Israeli classical pianist and piano teacher who performed internationally and taught at the Rubin Academy of Music in Tel Aviv.

1925 to 1978Recordings of Bach and BeethovenViolin sonatas with Henryk SzeryngTeaching piano at Rubin Academy

Born: 3 June 1925, Bucharest
Died: 30 January 1978, Istanbul
Occupation: pianist, music educator

Mîndru Katz was born in 1925 in Bucharest

Katz was born to a Jewish family in Bucharest in 1925. As a child he was noticed by the composer George Enescu, and he went on to study with Florica Musicescu.

He studied at the music academy in Bucharest but was expelled in 1941 for being Jewish. Enescu helped move him from forced labor clearing snow to office work so he could keep practicing. He finished his studies in 1947 and made his debut with the Bucharest Philharmonic that year.

He performed across Eastern Europe and received the title Artist Emerit and the Romanian State Prize. In 1959, during a tour in London, he defected from communist Romania and moved to Israel. He later toured the world, played in 40 countries and worked with conductors such as John Barbirolli, Sergiu Celibidache and Lorin Maazel.

In Israel he taught at the Rubin Academy of Music in Tel Aviv and became a professor of piano in 1972. His students included Mordecai Shehori and Astrith Baltsan. In 1974 he sat on the jury of the first Arthur Rubinstein piano competition.

Katz died of a heart attack on stage during a recital in Istanbul in 1978, while playing Beethoven's Tempest Sonata. He left a wife, Zohara, and a daughter.