Josef Fidelman

Josef Fidelman was born in Tiflis, Georgia, on February 3, 1905. At the age of five and a half years he made his debut with a piano recital at Baku opera house. With this began the usual explorations of a wonder-child, plus studies at the Tiflis conservatory of music with Lucian Truskowsky, dean of the piano department. During his studies at the conservatory, Josef Fidelman was greatly influenced musically and pianistically by a young teacher, Heinrich Nehaus. In 1921 he toured Turkey for the second time then went to Berlin where he continued his studies at the Berlin Hochschule for Music under Leonid Kreutzer’. Upon graduation in 1929 he participated in the Bluthner International Piano Contest and won first prize. While he lived in Europe he concertized extensively. In 1933 Josef Fidelman settled in the United States of America to become a citizen and to resume his teaching.