BLUE HILL, ME (CelebrityAccess) — Painist and composer Seymour Lipkin, who served as the artistic director of the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music School and Festival for nearly three decades, died Nov. 16 in Blue Hill, Maine. He was 88.
Lipkin first came to public prominence in 1948, when at the age of 20, he won first prize in the Rachmaninoff Fund Piano Contest, a nationwide competition held in New York. He would go on to perform with virtually all major American symphony orchestras.
Despite his success as a performer, his dual interest in conducting led him to accept a a position under George Szell at the Cleveland orchestra, followed by a position as Assistant Conductor at the New York Philharmonic. He would go on to serve as Conductor of the Joffrey Ballet and the Long Island Symphony Orchestra.
In 1981, he returned to performing, joining the faculty of The Juilliard School and taking over the role of director at Kneisel Hall in 1987, where he became known for his exacting standards.
He is survived by his second wife Ellen Werner and further survived by his son from his first marriage Jonathan and wife Danae Oratowski, stepchildren Daniel Walker (Melisa), Benjamin Walker (Jennifer), Sarah Hodges (Curtis), grandchildren Sophia Lipkin, Eve Lipkin, Louis Walker, Harry Walker, Melina Walker and niece Clare Schwarz (Mark Zdziarski), according to an obituary published by Kniesel Hall. – Staff Writers
