Ruth Slenczynska - 100 Years: The Art of Ruth Slenczynska (2025)

Slenczynska was born in Sacramento, California, on January 15, 1925. Her father, Josef Slenczynski, was a well-known violinist and head of the Warsaw Conservatory before being wounded as a part of the American forces in World War I. As he contemplated his career, now in ruins, he resolved to marry a woman who could assist him in producing a prodigy. He found a Polish woman who agreed to his plan, and the couple moved to California (his choice as having the best climate in which to produce such a child). Within hours of her birth, Ruth was deemed by her father suitable for a career as a violinist or a pianist. Imposing upon her from age three (by which time she already understood basic theory and harmony) a strenuous and demanding routine of study and practice, Josef was delighted by his child's gifts.

By the time she was four, Ruth had already mastered a number of important piano pieces and made her first public appearance at Mills College in Oakland on May 10, 1929. Her European debut took place in Berlin when she was six, leaving the audience in a frenzy and evoking comparisons to Mozart. A similar result followed her Paris recital the next year. Slenczynska's New York debut in 1933 was no less of a triumph, eliciting high praise from Josef Hofmann, who was amazed at her musical understanding. During these years, Slenczynska had occasion to study with Hofmann, as well as such eminent keyboard artists as Artur Schnabel, Alfred Cortot, and Sergei Rachmaninov. The stress of compliance with her father's stifling regimen and the performance schedule he chose for her resulted in a crisis, and in 1940, she abandoned her career for a decade, enrolling at the University of California. There she met another student, George Born, and in 1944 eloped with him. Slenczynska graduated and taught for a time at the College of Our Lady of Mercy in Burlingame, California. In 1951, she returned to the concert stage with a performance at the Carmel Bach Festival, and two years later, Slenczynska and Born were divorced.

In 1954, Slenczynska felt ready to renew her career, albeit at a more manageable pace. Her best-selling autobiography, Forbidden Childhood (written in collaboration with Louis Biancolli), was published in 1957. A volume on piano training, Music at Your Fingertips: Aspects of Pianoforte Technique, was issued in 1961 and remains in print. Amidst an active and rewarding concert career, Slenczynska was engaged in 1964 as artist-in-residence at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, retaining the position until 1987 and continuing there as a part-time faculty member. In 1967, she married Dr. James Karr, a professor at S.I.U.E. The pianist's 1999 recording of Schumann for Ivory Classics is beautifully, wisely played.

Slenczynska has continued to perform and teach privately in the 21st century. To celebrate the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth in 2020, in the midst of the Coronavirus lockdowns, she recorded and uploaded videos of her performing the composer's piano sonatas. The following year, Slenczynska performed at the Polish embassy in New York for the International Chopin & Friends Festival. Marking her 97th birthday in 2022, the Decca label announced a new contract with the famed pianist: Slenczynska had previously recorded for the Decca Gold label in the 1950s and '60s. My Life in Music was issued in 2022 and featured music by Rachmaninov, Chopin, Barber, and others.

Biography by Erik Eriksson