Remembering Katherine Bacon

During my year at Juilliard (1970-1971), I studied with English pianist Katherine Bacon.  Bacon had been a child prodigy and then a renowned concert pianist in the first half of the century, known for her performances of the Beethoven cycle of 32 piano sonatas and of all of Schubert’s important piano works.  Yes, I played a lot of Beethoven and Schubert that year!  She taught at Juilliard from 1940 until her retirement, about a year after I left.

I remember Miss Bacon as a pleasant older lady. One image that sticks in my mind is seeing her come in from the damp streets of Manhattan, folding her umbrella and remarking, “Nice weather…for ducks.”  I built up quite a bit of repertoire during my study with her, including some music I would perform in later years.

Below is a link to my 1988 performance of Chopin’s Ballade No. 2, which I had first studied with her.