Emanuel Levenson (August 2, 1916 – June 9, 1998) was an American classical musician most active from the early 1950s through the mid-1980s. Best known at the time as an opera director, he also taught piano and voice, performed as a concert pianist, and founded several arts organizations which survive to this day. A graduate of

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

who had studied piano under Joseph Adler, Levenson founded the Pennybridge Opera Company in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and Berkshire Pro Musica in

Pittsfield, Massachusetts Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfield� ...

. He served as the music director of several opera companies, as director of Young Audiences, an organization that brought opera performers into schools, and he taught an opera workshop and directed numerous operas at

The New School The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. ...

. Independently, he also taught piano as well as vocal technique. From 1960 to 1985 he commuted to New York City from

Becket ''Becket or The Honour of God'' (french: Becket ou l'honneur de Dieu) is a 1959 play written in French by Jean Anouilh. It is a depiction of the conflict between Thomas Becket and King Henry II of England leading to Becket's assassination in 117 ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

As a pianist, Levenson made one recording, which was only released as a

long-playing record The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and a ...

album. ''Survey of the Art Song'' (EMS 501), recorded circa 1950 on

EMS Recordings EMS Recordings was founded in 1949 by Jack Skurnick in New York City. The company won first prize at the Audio Fair of 1950 for the high quality and interest of its recordings. It issued the first recording of works of Edgard Varese. Skurnick's par ...

Jack Skurnick Jack Skurnick (March 22, 1910 – September 6, 1952) was an American record producer and writer, known as the founder and director of EMS Recordings and as publisher and editor of the music review ''Just Records''. Career Skurnick worked in th ...

's record label, included recordings of nine

art songs An art song is a Western world, Western vocal music Musical composition, composition, usually written for one voice with piano accompaniment, and usually in the classical music, classical art music tradition. By extension, the term "art song" is ...

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the foremost Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of ...

and eight by

Charles Griffes Charles Tomlinson Griffes ( ; September 17, 1884 – April 8, 1920) was an American composer for piano, chamber ensembles and voice. His initial works are influenced by German Romanticism, but after he relinquished the German style, his late ...

, performed by Levenson in accompaniment with

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

Norman Myrvik. Levenson first married Elizabeth Myers during World War II, and had one son, Michael R. Levenson. Then he married Theodora ("Teddy") and had two children, who took their step-father's name, Jeffrum Neiblum and Eve Neiblum. Several years following Skurnick's death in 1952, Levenson married his widow, painter

Fay Kleinman Fay Kleinman (November 29, 1912 – February 21, 2012) was an American painter. She was also known by her married names, Fay Skurnick, and then Fay Levenson. The medium of most of the works Kleinman created is oil on canvas, but she also prod ...

. Together, Levenson and Kleinman founded the Becket Arts Center in

in 1971. In the mid-1980s, Levenson and Kleinman moved to Ypsilanti,

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, where he lived until his death in 1998, at the age of 81, and where she resided until her death on February 21, 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levenson, Emanuel 1916 births 1998 deaths American classical pianists American male classical pianists American male pianists Music directors (opera) People from Ypsilanti, Michigan Columbia University alumni People from Becket, Massachusetts 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century American pianists 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century American male musicians