Cipa Dichter

Misha and Cipa Dichter met at The Juilliard School as students of the legendary pianist Rosina Lhevinne and made their first joint appearance at the Hollywood Bowl in 1972, four years after their marriage.  Since then, the Dichters have performed in recital and with major orchestras throughout the world and have brought to the concert stage many previously neglected works of the two-piano and piano-four-hand repertoires.  They include the world premieres of Robert Starer's Concerto for Two Pianos, the first movement of Shostakovich’s two-piano version of Symphony No. 13 , Babi Yar, and Mendelssohn's own four-hand setting of his “Seven Songs Without Words, Op. 62 and Op. 67,” commemorating the composer's 200th birthday. Misha and Cipa Dichter's North American engagements have included recitals in all of the major cities in the United States and Canada, as well as appearances with the symphonies of Baltimore, Chicago, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, and Seattle.  Abroad, the Dichters have performed in the music capitals of France, Germany, Holland, Spain, and Switzerland. The Dichters’ first recording—a three-CD album of the complete piano works for four hands by Mozart plus four-hand arrangements by Busoni and Grieg—was recently released by Musical Heritage Society.  Born in 1945 in Shanghai, where his Polish parents had fled at the outbreak of World War II, Misha Dichter came to Los Angeles with his family at the age of two and began his piano studies a few years later.  While still a student at Juilliard, he launched his international career with a stunning triumph at the 1966 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. Cipa Dichter was born in Brazil of Polish-Russian parents and had her first piano lessons at the age of six.  She made her professional debut at 16 with the Symphony Orchestra of Brazil and came to the United States to study at The Juilliard School shortly thereafter.