Earl Wild
Contents
Country
United States
Birth - Death
1915 - 2010
Occupation
Entertainment
Notable Achievements
Grammy Award
Description
Gay classical pianist and composer Earl Wild is considered the most gifted virtuoso pianist of the twentieth century. He was the first pianist to give a piano recital on television (1939) and the first pianist to be streamed live on the internet (1997). He is the only pianist to have played for six consecutive Presidents of the United States.
In his early years, Wild was the staff pianist and composer for the NBC and ABC television networks and served in World War II as a musician who entertained the troops.
In addition to his classical repertoire (notably for his interpretations and transcriptions of Gershwin, Liszt and Rachmaninoff pieces), Earl Wild was a gifted jazz pianist. To date, he has recorded more than any other classical pianist in the world - his discography of recorded works includes more than 35 piano concertos, 26 chamber works, and over 700 solo piano pieces.
In 1997, he received a GRAMMY Award for a disc devoted entirely to virtuoso piano transcriptions titled ‘Earl Wild - The Romantic Master’. His official 90th birthday party was celebrated with a recital at Carnegie Hall in 2005.
His memoirs have been published under the title ‘A Walk on the Wild Side’.
