Harpsichordist Igor Kipnis performs
April 24, 1970
Harpsichordist Igor Kipnis, internationally known through his recitals, solo appearances with major symphonies, and his recordings, is scheduled to perform at 8:30 p.m., Saturday, May 9, in Sherwood Hall, La Jolla.
The concert is sponsored by the University of California, San Diego's Committee for Arts and Lectures. Reserved seats are $3.00 for general admission, $2.50 for UCSD faculty and staff, and $1.50 for UCSD students. Tickets may be reserved by calling the UCSD Box Office at 453-6151.
Kipnis, son of the famous Metropolitan Opera basso Alexander Kipnis, has been associated with music ever since his boyhood in the 1930's, receiving his first piano lessons from his grandfather, the Chicago composer Heniot Levy. It was at Harvard University, where he graduate in 1952, that Kipnis became fascinated by the harpsichord and music of the Baroque period.
At Harvard, under the tutelage of the American composer Randall Thompson, and later under Thurston Dart and others, Kipnis made an extensive study of Renaissance and Baroque styles and is now a recognized authority in this field.
Kipnis' debut as a harpsichordist was made in 1959 over New York City's municipal radio station WNYC and his first New York solo recital followed in 1961 at the New York Historical Society. Since that time he has appeared in concert and lecture recitals throughout the United States and has performed with many orchestras including the Boston Symphony, the Symphony of the Air, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Princeton Chamber Orchestra, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, and the Clarion Concerts Orchestra in New York City among others.
Kipnis has recorded extensively and is currently engaged in a recording project for Epic Records featuring the harpsichord music of different countries. He recorded the harpsichord background music for the sound track of the 1963 American motion picture, Hallelujah the Hills.
During the summers from 1964 to 1967, Kipnis served as Chairman of the Baroque Department at the Berkshire Music Center (Tanglewood) at Lenox, Massachusetts, where he supervised the preparation of Baroque concerts by the members of the Berkshire Music Center Performance Department. He lectured on the subject of Baroque performance practices and taught harpsichord.
During the 1967-68 season, Kipnis toured Europe extensively where he was hailed by critics and public alike in his triumphant debuts in London, Amsterdam, Munich, Vienna, Cologne, and Bern. Immediately after his return from Europe, Kipnis did a coast-to-coast tour of the United States which included a comprehensive tour of the entire Eastern seaboard from New York City to Florida and back.