Person

Reiner, Charles

1924-2006

Charles Reiner was born in Budapest, Hungary on April 7, 1924, and died in Montreal on August 19, 2006. He moved to Canada in 1951 as part of the Jewish diaspora caused by persecution in Hungary and became a Canadian citizen. Before he left Europe, he was interned at the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria from 1944 to 1945. Afterwards, he returned to Hungary where he attended the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, studying with Arpad Hanak, Arnold Szekely, and Bela Böszörmenyi-Nagy. He won the International Competition for Music Performers in Geneva in 1947 and was awarded the first prize for virtuosity by the Geneva Conservatory the following year. After he came to Canada, Reiner established himself as a successful concert artist and educator. He was particularly adept at collaboration, performing with Hymen Bress, Maureen Forrester, Antonio Janigro, Arthur LeBlanc, Igor Oistrakh, Ruggiero Ricci, Henryk Szeryng, and Richard Verreau, among many others. Reiner frequently performed on CBC Radio and CBC Television during his career, and was a founding member of both the Canadian Piano Quartet and Musica Camerata Montreal. He was a professor at McGill University for 40 years, teaching on the music faculty of the Schulich School of Music.

1924 7 April Born in Budapest, Hungary.
1944–1945 Interned at the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria.
1947 Received concert diploma from Franz Liszt Academy, Budapest.
1948 Won International Competition for Music Performers, Geneva.
1949 Awarded first prize for virtuosity by Geneva Conservatory.
1950 First prize in International Refugees Organization competition (UN-sponsored).
1951 Moved to Montréal, Québec, Canada.
1951 27 November Canadian recital debut at Ritz Carlton Hotel, Montréal.
1954 Joined Faculty of Music at McGill University.
1954 11 February Television debut.
1956 Naturalised Canadian.
1963 Founding member of Canadian Piano Quartet.
1965 Joined Conservatoire de Trois-Rivières.
1967 Left Conservatoire de Trois-Rivières.
1971 Founding member of Musica Camerata Montréal.
1982 Began teaching at The Quartet Program.
1985 Invited to teach and perform at Shanghai Conservatory.
1994 Left McGill University.
2006 19 August Died at Royal Victoria Hospital, Montréal, Québec, Canada.

Revised on July 17, 2024, by Leah Louttit-Bunker

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Reiner