Edith Kraft
Keyboard Skills Faculty

New York City native Edith Kraft earned both bachelor's and master's degrees at Juilliard, studying with Jane Carlson, Edward Steuermann, Ania Dorfman, and Rudolf Firkusny. Her credits include touring as soloist with the Atlanta Symphony and Robert Shaw, performing recitals throughout the U.S. and Europe, and recording more than a dozen recitals for PBS-TV for national distribution. She was a professor at Michigan State University and has been a Juilliard faculty member since 1983.

Edith Kraft at age 9, after winning the Queens Symphony Competition (Photo by James Abresch)

When did you first know you wanted to be a musician and how did you come to know it?

At age 3. My mother played the piano many hours every day. I was supposed to sleep when she practiced in the evenings; however, unbeknownst to her, I listened intently. One day, at age 3, I climbed onto the piano chair and proceeded to play what I had heard the evening before. I told my mother, when she came running into the room, "I thinked it over in my sleep"!



Who was the teacher or mentor who most inspired you when you were growing up and what did you learn from that person?

Edward Steuermann. I learned technique, musicality, and the importance of working to achieve the highest possible standard. I was 13 at the time, and he required me to prepare new works in one week, memorized and up to tempo, or I was shown the door.



What was the first recording that you remember hearing or buying? What was its significance to you?

Chopin works played by Arthur Rubinstein, who was one of my idols. I loved the grandeur and the poetry of his playing. Many years later, I had the thrill of meeting him when he was a soloist at the Casals Festival in Puerto Rico, where I was also performing as a winner of a State Department scholarship.



What's the most embarrassing moment you've had as a performer?

When I was performing with the Houston Symphony, a black widow spider landed on the keyboard during the second movement of the Chopin Concerto No. 1. It didn't move. I was petrified that I would land on it during fast passagework, so I played four pages on "automatic pilot," not missing a note, trying to figure out a plan of action to get rid of it. I had three lines while the orchestra played in the third movement to act fast, so I smashed the spider with my thumb, cleaned off the mess with a handkerchief (which I always kept in the piano), threw the handkerchief into the piano, and proceeded with the most difficult section of the movement, shaking!



If you could have your students visit any place in the world, where would it be, and why?

Switzerland, for the beauty and majesty of the mountains and the country. I studied with Horszowski in Lucerne for three summers and vacationed in the country.



What are your non-music-related interests or hobbies?

My hobbies include noodling and studying on the computer. I have many different interests, including medicine and law.



What book are you reading right now? Or what CD are you listening to?

I'm listening to CDs of Horowitz and of Rudolf Serkin. I had the great honor of being chosen to play for Horowitz in his home, and also to play for Serkin when I participated in the Marlboro Music Festival.



What "words of wisdom" can you offer young people entering the field today?

It is very important to practice consistently every day, and not to study and cram in the last minute, no matter what it is. Cramming makes the student very nervous, and the material isn't learned so that it lasts, hopefully for a lifetime.



What is your favorite thing about New York City?

All the varied cultural events taking place in this exciting and alive city.



If you weren't in the career you are in, what would you be doing?

I'd be a physician.