Seymour Lipkin

Seymour Lipkin was an American concert pianist, conductor, and educator.

Early life and piano career

Lipkin was born in Detroit. At age 11, he entered the Curtis Institute of Music where he studied with David Saperton, Rudolf Serkin and Mieczysław Horszowski At age 17 he served as accompanist to Jascha Heifetz on a USO tour of Europe during World War II. He received his degree in 1947.
In 1948, he won the Rachmaninoff Piano Contest, beating Gary Graffman.
As a soloist, he performed with the New York Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Conducting and teaching

Lipkin studied conducting under Serge Koussevitzky and then apprenticed with George Szell at the Cleveland Orchestra. He served as the assistant conductor for the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein. Later he was music director for the Joffrey Ballet and then conductor of the Long Island Symphony Orchestra.
In 1958, Lipkin lead the New York City Opera in a performance of Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti, making his conducting debut.
He was a member of the faculty at Juilliard and also taught at Curtis, Manhattan School of Music, and the New England Conservatory.
In 1987 he became artistic director of Kneisel Hall in Blue Hill, Maine until his death in 2015.