Eugene Alcalay
'... an interpreter of rare distinction ...' - Malcolm Miller, M&V
Born in Bucharest, Romania on 13 October 1966, Eugene Alcalay began playing piano at the age of two and composing from the age of eight. From 1984, he studied in the USA with Leonard Bernstein. He attained bachelor degrees in piano and composition at Indiana University School of Music, and then Bernstein helped him to continue his studies at the Curtis Institute and at Juilliard. His other teachers included Seymour Lipkin, Robert McDonald, Karen Shaw, James Tocco, Milton Babbitt and Ned Rorem.
He was associate professor of piano at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and had a performance career which took him to three continents.
Eugene Alcalay died from a heart attack on 26 June 2019, aged fifty-two.
A selection of articles about Eugene Alcalay
Spreading Light and Making Darkness Vanish - Luiza Catrinel Marinescu remembers her classmate, the Romanian pianist Eugen Alcalay and explores the pianist's mother's book 'Rhapsody in black and white with Leonard Bernstein'
CD Spotlight. Striking Motifs - Eugene Alcalay plays Liszt, heard by Robert Anderson. 'Alcalay characterises this music admirably.'
Stimulating Fare - Eugene Alcalay plays Bartók, Dutilleux and Beethoven, enjoyed by Malcolm Miller
Temperament and Imagination - Alberto Portugheis enjoys a recital by the Romanian-American pianist Eugene Alcalay