Search - Frederic Chopin, Michel Block :: Chopin Mazurkas

Pianist MICHEL BLOCK was born of French parents in Antwerp, Belgium. As a child, he moved with his parents to Mexico, where his grandfather had settled in 1870. Mr. Block's father, although born in Europe like his son Michel, moved to Mexico when he was 19, and lived until his death in that country. In one of the most famous of all piano competition incidents, Michel Block won The Arthur Rubinstein Prize in Warsaw at The 1960 Frederic Chopin International Competition. Mr. Rubinstein, having been displeased with the jury?s verdicts, invented the prize on the spot, and personally made the award to Mr. Block. Like most pianists, Mr. Block has appeared with the world'ss great orchestras and conductors in the United States and in Europe, and has made numerous recordings, many of which are now out of print. In 1978 he joined the music faculty of Indiana University in Bloomington, and ceased pursuing the pianistic career he had embarked upon as a young man. The Pro Piano New York Recital Series is extremely honored to present Michel Block in New York for the first time in nearly fifteen years.