Dina Turgeman (; 4 October 1922 – 14 February 2014), was a German-born Israeli pianist and piano teacher.
Biography Dina Grossvogel Turgeman was born in Frankfurt, Germany. Her Polish-born art dealer family emigrated to Luxembourg.Article by D. Scuto about the search for Dina Grossvogel (in German) She studied piano at the Luxembourg Conservatory, with Lucien Lambotte,Lucien LAMBOTTE (Verviers 1888 - Spa 1969) and at age 14 won „Premier prix avec grande distinction par 60 points“, (“first prize with distinction”).‘’Escher Tageblatt’’ and ‘’des Luxemburger Wort’’ newspaper articles (in German) from the 1930s in the Archive of the city music conservatory in Luxembourg (‘’Städtischen Musikkonservatorium’’) A year later, February 24, 1938, she gave her first recital at the Luxemburg Casino playing works of Glinka, Balakirew, Ljadow, Glasunow and Arenski.
She went on to the Royal Conservatory of Brussels where she won „Premier prix avec distinction“ (First prize with distinction) in 1939. She won first prizes in competitions and played in concerts that were broadcast across Europe. During her studies she received the honor of Queen of Belgium's patronage.Grossvogel, Biographical material During the Second World War in 1941, her family was on the list to be deported to the Litzmannstadt Ghetto (Łódź),Scuto Denis, La Commission administrative et le fichier juif de la Gestapo, Tageblatt, 19.11.2015, p. 2-5| newspaper article on the Gestapo list regarding the Grossvogel family (in French) Turgeman and her family, with forged papers under the name ‘Dubois’ and assisted by Lucien Lambotte,Grossvogel Family information hid in a convent near Liege in Belgium, where she played the organ at Mass every morning.Archives général du Royaume, Police des étrangers, Dossier A40.085 (Jakob und Rosa Grossvogel|Immigration information and police records for the Grossvogel family (in French)
After the war she continued with her studies at the Brussels conservatoire,De Oliveira, Olivia Wahnon. "Le Conservatoire Royal De Bruxelles Pendant La Seconde Guerre Mondiale." Revue Belge De Musicologie / Belgisch Tijdschrift Voor Muziekwetenschap 69 (2015): 283-304|about the Jewish students of the Brussels conservatory (in French) and played numerous concerts, as soloist and chamber music, in Brussels and for the Luxembourg radio.
In 1949, she immigrated to Israel.
In 1950, she married Mordechai Turgeman, CPA, whom she met touring in Israel.Young pianists in Givataim, article in Hebrew They have two children, Professor Orit Pappo and Advocate Arik Ramot.
Music career Turgeman played as soloist and chamber music with musicians from Israel and abroadConcert information in National Library JerusalemConcert information in National Library Jerusalem including Yitzhak Blassberger, Simcha Cheled, Georg Marton, Avraham Melamed, Nahum Pinczuk, Meir Rimon, Moshe Stieglitz, Arie Yisraeli in a wide repertoire which included Bach, Beethoven, Brahms,Concert information in National Library Jerusalem Britten, Chausson, Kodaly, MartinuConcert information in National Library Jerusalem Mozart, Partos, Poot, Tchaikowski, Villa-Lobos as well as Belgian composers.vid=NNL_Ephemera&docId=NNL_Ephemera71234456910005171 She taught students from all over the world who went on to Juilliard, the Metropolitan Opera and other musical institutions.Eytan Pessen, teatrwielki.pl
Turgeman developed a unique teaching method that allowed musicians to reach their full potential, with a specific technical base (summarized in Baltsan's dissertation) of rebuilding the finger strength and efficient easy playing.Interview with pianist Revital Hachamoff (in Hebrew) Among her students were Astrith Baltsan, Leora Cohen, Mikael Eliason,Pianist, Curtis Institute Vocal department director Ethan Globerson, Revital Hachamoff, Yehuda Inbar, Nico Levi, Eytan Pessen, Irit Rimon Neidorff, Ayala Rosenbaum, Adi Rosenkranz, Zvi Semel and Michal Tal. She taught up to the age of 88.
Awards and recognition After her death in 2014 at the age of 91 the story of her curtailed career, deportation and post war antisemitism were featured in varied media in Luxembourg and Belgium.‘’Juifs : le Grand-Duché face à son passé’’- “Jews: the Grand Duchy faces its past”, article in Le Quotidiene in Luxumbourg (in French) led by the historian Denis Scuto. the Jerusalem Music Academy created a chamber music competition on her name.
See also Music in Israel
References