Leon Fleisher was an American classical pianist, conductor and pedagogue. He was one of the most renowned pianists and pedagogues in the world. Music correspondent Elijah Ho called him "one of the most refined and transcendent musicians the United States has ever produced".
Fleisher in 1963
President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush with the 2007 Kennedy Center Honorees at the White House. From left: Fleisher, Martin Scorsese, Diana Ross, Brian Wilson and Steve Martin.
George Szell, originally György Széll, György Endre Szél, or Georg Szell, was a Hungarian-born American conductor and composer. Considered one of the twentieth century's greatest conductors, he was music director of the Cleveland Orchestra of Cleveland, Ohio, and recorded much of the standard classical repertoire in Cleveland and with other orchestras.
George Szell, 1954
George Szell at the age of 12
George Szell and composer Jaroslav Křička during the staging of Křička's opera The Gentleman in White in Prague, April 1932.