Oppens, Ursula

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Oppens, Ursula

Oppens, Ursula, talented American pianist; b. N.Y., Feb. 2, 1944. She studied economics and English literature at Radcliffe Coll. (B.A., 1965), then studied with Rosina Lhévinne and Leonard Shure at the Juil-liard School of Music in N.Y. She won first prize at the Busoni Competition in Italy in 1969. Returning to the U.S., she co-founded Speculum Musicae in N.Y., a chamber music ensemble devoted to performing contemporary music; also appeared with other chamber music groups, as a recitalist, and as a soloist with major U.S. orchs. In 1976 she was awarded the Avery Fisher Prize. Her expansive repertory ranges from the classics to the cosmopolitan avant-garde.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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