Ruth Slenczynska
American pianist
Ruth Slenczynska (January 15, 1925 – April 22, 2026) was an American classical pianist and the last living piano student of Sergei Rachmaninoff. She was a child prodigy, pushed by her father, debuting with a full orchestra at age seven. She abandoned a career as a concert pianist at age 15, married at age 19 and began studies. She returned to performing in 1951 after a break of more than 10 years, and began to teach piano, from 1964 to 1987 as artist-in-residence at the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Her final album was released in 2022.
Life and career
Slenczynska was born in Sacramento, California, on January 15, 1925. Her Polish father, Joseph Slenczynski (Józef Ślenczyński), was a violinist. Pushed by her father and starting at age three, Slenczynska was forced to practice the piano relentlessly. At age three, her father took her to Europe to study. She made her recital debut at age four.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ruth Slenczynska” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.