Misha Dichter to perform on campus Dec. 1

Concert is first on new Steinway grand piano Internationally acclaimed pianist Misha Dichter, regarded as one of the world's foremost musicians, will continue the Chamber Music Series with a concert at 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1, in Mandel Hall. Dichter has been hailed by the Times of London for his "stupendous strength and .. princely self-discipline," by the Los Angeles Times as "a phenomenal artist" and by the Telegraph of London as "one of the master pianists of our time."

The concert will mark the first public performance on the Department of Music's new Steinway concert grand piano, purchased through the support of the University's Women's Board and a matching grant from Catherine Dobson (M.D.'32), Clinical Associate in Obstetrics & Gynecology.

The program will include Schubert's Sonata in A Minor, Op. 143; Brahms' Variations on a Theme by Handel; Bartok's Fifteen Hungarian peasant songs; and Liszt's Funerailles, Valse oubliee No. 2 and Hungarian Rhapsody No. 15.

Born in Shanghai in 1945 to Polish parents who had fled Europe at the outbreak of World War II, Dichter moved with his family to Los Angeles at age 2 and began taking piano lessons four years later. His principal teachers were Rosina Lhevinne at Juilliard and Aube Tzerko, a pupil of Artur Schnabel. His stunning triumph at the 1966 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow launched his international career, which currently includes annual recital, orchestral and chamber music performances in the world's major music capitals.

The Department of Music's new American Steinway Model D was selected by renowned pianist Charles Rosen, Professor in the Committee on Social Thought and in Music. The instrument is the 524,447th piano made by Steinway at its New York facility. This particular model is used by 93 percent of the world's professional pianists.

Tickets for the concert are $20, $8 for students, and are available by calling the University Concert Office at 702-8068.