Dr. Azary Messerer (1939-2017) came from a well-known artistic Messerer-Plisetsky dynasty in Russia. His mother, Raisa Glezer, was a prominent musicologist. His first piano teacher was Sophia Rostropovich (Mstislav Rostropovich’s mother). He grew up listening to such formidable pianists as Sviatoslav Richter. Later he took lessons from Boris Vineshenker who was a student of the legendary Felix Blumenfeld. Upon his graduation from the College of Foreign Languages in Moscow, Azary became a radio journalist, interviewing many outstanding people, including composers: Shostakovich, Khachaturian, Britten, Copland; pianists: Ashkenazi, Ogden; writers, i.e. John Cheever and actors, i.e. John Gielgud and Paul Scofield.
When he immigrated to the USA in 1981, he taught English literature in a high school. He was also a chess coach at the FDR High School in Brooklyn and his team won several times at the Greater New York championships and a 5th place in the National Championship.
Azary received his PhD in Communication at NYU. He has lectured in a number of Universities, including Dartmouth, NYU, Touro College and Boston University.
Azary Messerer’s book
Azary gives a lecturer at Dartmouth University
Azary studied piano with Jeffrey Biegel in USA; gave recitals in various libraries, including New York, Boston, Philadelphia and at the Scriabin Museum in Moscow. He made several CDs.
Azary Messerer plays Schuman (a video clip by Phil Messerer)
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