Ruth Slenczynska (January 15, 1925 – April 22, 2026) was an American pianist.

Her long career spanned more than nine decades and included performing, recording, and teaching.

Slenczynska was born to Polish parents; her father, Joseph Slenczynski, a violinist, began her piano training at an early age and geared her life toward a career at the piano.

She gave her first public performance at the age of four, and while still a child, the family moved to Europe so she could study with leading pianists.

Her teachers included Artur Schnabel, Alfred Cortot, Egon Petri, Josef Hofmann, and Sergei Rachmaninoff. The discipline imposed by her father, with daily practice sessions of up to nine hours, led her to break away from him and her concert career at the age of 15. She studied psychology at the University of California and married fellow student George Born; the marriage ended in divorce in 1953. Later, she married political scientist James Kerr, with whom she lived until his death. She died in California in April 2026 at the age of 101.

Even as a child, Slenczynska was celebrated as an exceptional pianistic talent; in 1934, she stepped in for the indisposed Sergei Rachmaninoff and was subsequently taught by him. After returning to the stage in the early 1950s, she performed for several years with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra.

She played for five US presidents and performed a four-hand Mozart duet with Harry S. Truman at the White House. With her memoir, Forbidden Childhood, published in 1957, she exposed the exploitation of musical prodigies; later, she also published the piano technique book Music at Your Fingertips. From 1964 until her retirement in 1988, she taught at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, first as an artist in residence and then as a faculty member.

Even in her later years, she remained artistically active, posting Beethoven sonatas online during the first Covid-19 lockdowns and making a prominent return to the recording studio in 2022 with the Decca album My Life in Music.

Ruth Slenczynska Rachmaninoff E flat major prelude

Ruth Slenczynska Plays Chopin Etudes, Barcarolle & Tarantelle (1978)

 

WOW She lived to see 101 years around our star.
Rest In Peace Ruth Slenczynska

 

Rest In Peace Ruth Slenczynska, God Bless