Sascha Gorodnitzki

Sascha Gorodnitzki (1904-1986) was born in Kiev in the Ukraine , and came to the United States at an early age. He studied piano with his mother, then with Edwin Hughes at the Institute of Musical Art, which later became Juilliard. He entered the Juilliard Graduate School in 1926, where he worked with Josef Lhevinne and studied composition with Rubin Goldmark, graduating with highest honors in 1932. He won the Schubert Memorial Prize in 1930. 

He made his debut with the New York Philharmonic Symphony Society and played his first Carnegie Hall solo recital in 1931. During his performing career, he toured the United States, Canada and Latin America, appearing under the direction of conductors such as Fritz Reiner, Leopold Stokowski and Pierre Monteux, among many others. He made radio and television appearances, and recorded works by Beethoven and Brahms for Capitol Records, and works of Schumann for Columbia.

Mr. Gorodnitzki joined the faculty of the Juilliard Summer School in 1932; he was appointed to the piano faculty in 1948, and remained there until his death. He also taught at the Temple University Music Festival and Institute in the late 1960's and early 1970’s. As a teacher, Mr. Gorodnitzki was a perfectionist who inspired immense loyalty from his students. Those who worked with him at Juilliard included Eugene Istomin, Garrick Ohlsson, Dennis Russell Davies, Janina Fialkowska and James Barbagallo.

Gorodnitzki died of cardiac arrest in April 1986. He was 81 years old and lived in Manhattan.