Steven Gordon

Steven Gordon (ca.1945, Santa Monica, California — 23 June 1990, Los Angeles) was an American concert pianist best known as half of a two-piano duo with his wife, Nadya Gordon (b. 1945), active from their marriage in 1971 until his premature death from lymphoma at only 45. He grew up in southern California and studied with Sergei Tarnowsky; Steven first met his future wife, Nadya Cataldo, as a fellow Tarnowsky pupil. Gordon made his stage debut at nine with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and later participated in the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, USSR. After their marriage in 1971, Nadya and Robert Gordon toured extensively, both across the USA and worldwide, performing a broad repertoire of classical and contemporary works written for two pianos. They also produced several critically acclaimed albums, primarily on Klavier Records, including the first-ever complete cycle of Maurice Ravel's two piano works. Steven released a few solo albums without Nadya, including his Chopin piano renditions on Reference Recordings. Steven Gordon also coached an unprecedented performance of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue by eighty-four pianists for the 1984 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Los Angeles.