Dora Zaslavsky Koch (July 18, 1904 – September 9, 1987) was an American pianist who was one of the first graduates of and later a teacher at the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory in New York City. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition, as well as a bachelor's in mu ...

Early life

Zaslavsky was born in the Russian Empire in 1904, arriving in New York as an infant on February 22, 1905. Her family was Jewish, from the city of

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in the oblast of Poltava. Her father Max had emigrated to the United States the previous year. She was traveling with her mother Celia née Fleisher, older siblings Joseph and Fay, and a young cousin. Another brother Israel (also George) was born six years later. Other sources give Zaslavsky’s birth year as 1905, but this is incompatible with the ship manifest information. The family story goes that Zaslavsky's musical talent was discovered "thanks to a large toy piano with real black and white keys" that her father, a peddler, had brought home for her. She studied piano with

Harold Bauer Harold Victor Bauer (28 April 1873 – 12 March 1951) was a noted pianist of Jewish heritage who began his musical career as a violinist. Biography Harold Bauer was born in Kingston upon Thames; his father was a German violinist and his mot ...

and Janet Schenck, founder of the Neighborhood Music School, which became the

, and she was the school's first graduate in 1920. Zaslavsky continued her studies with

Wilhelm Backhaus Wilhelm Backhaus ('Bachaus' on some record labels) (26 March 1884 – 5 July 1969) was a German pianist and pedagogue. He was particularly well known for his interpretations of Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin and Brahms. He was also much ...

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and

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, then returned to New York to take up her teaching career at the Manhattan School, where she taught alongside

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. Among her students were David Bar-Ilan and

Abbey Simon Abbey Henry Simon (January 8, 1920 – December 18, 2019) was an American concert pianist, teacher, and recording artist. He was a protégé of Josef Hofmann at the Curtis Institute of Music and a winner of the Naumburg International Piano Com ...

Marriages

Zaslavsky married New Yorker Herbert Spencer Schwartz (also Herbert Thomas Schwartz) on September 12, 1927. He was a gifted musician whose mother had hoped he would become a concert pianist, as Zaslavsky’s father had hoped for her. Schwartz, however, chose to pursue a college education rather than continue in music. At the time of their marriage he was beginning his third undergraduate year at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, thinking of becoming a physician. He was accepted into medical school but dropped out after one semester, entering Columbia University the following fall to study philosophy. He wrote his doctoral thesis on the philosophy of music, graduating in 1933. Zaslavsky and Schwartz were amicably divorced on August 10, 1935, each of them interested in someone else at the time. Zaslavsky's second husband,

John Koch John Koch (August 18, 1909 — April 19, 1978), (pronounced "KŌK") was an American painter and teacher, and an important figure in 20th century Realism. He is best known for his light-filled paintings of urban interiors, often featuring classica ...

, grew up in Ann Arbor, and joined the art scene in Paris at age nineteen, where he lived for nearly five years, returning in June, 1933, to Ann Arbor. When he settled in Manhattan the following year, he already knew Zaslavsky, either having met her in

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before he left for Paris, or having met her during one of her visits to Paris. He was "determined to win her." Koch stayed first with a friend, then moved to a room next door to the one at 56th & Madison in which Zaslavsky was living with her sister Fay. Koch and Zaslavsky were married on December 23, 1935."New York, New York City Marriage Records, 1829-1940," database, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:248X-1SX : accessed 14 March 2016), John Koch and Dora Zaslavsky, 23 Dec 1935; citing Marriage, Manhattan, New York, New York, United States, New York City Municipal Archives, New York; FHL microfilm 1,674,300. Their first apartment was at 865 First Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. The bedroom served as his studio; the living room with piano was her studio.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zaslavsky, Dora 1904 births 1987 deaths Manhattan School of Music alumni Manhattan School of Music faculty Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States Naturalized citizens of the United States 20th-century American women pianists 20th-century American pianists Women music educators American women academics