Gary Graffman (born 14 October 1928) is a classical pianist, teacher of piano and music administrator. Graffman was born in New York City to Russian-Jewish parents. Having started piano at age 3, Graffman entered the Curtis Institute of Music at age 7 in 1936 as a piano student of Isabelle Vengerova. After graduating from Curtis in 1946, he made his professional solo debut with conductor Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra. By the age of 20 Gary Graffman had made a name for himself world-wide as a classical pianist. In 1948 he won the prestigious Leventritt Award. He then furthered his piano studies with Rudolph Serkin at the Marlboro Music Festival and informally with Vladimir Horowitz. From the outset Graffman pursued a successful piano career. He played with numerous orchestras and performed concerts and recitals internationally. Over the next three decades he toured and recorded extensively, performing solo and with orchestras around