Joseph Bloch was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, on November 6, 1917. He was best described by the New York Post as a musician who "has that rare trio: a head, a heart, and skill". Through high school, he studied with Bomar Cramer and then with Rudolph Ganz at the Chicago Musical College. After earning his Bachelor of Music degree, he enrolled at Harvard University for his Master's degree in Musicology. While in graduate school, Bloch commuted to New York in order to study with Olga Samaroff.
During
World War II, Bloch was stationed at Lawry Field in Denver, Colorado, where he
gave informal recitals and also appeared as a soloist with the Civic Symphony.
He was in the Army Air Forces from 1941-1946 and discharged as captain.
In 1946, he was appointed head of the piano department at the University of Denver and two years later, joined the faculty at Juilliard. He taught piano literature classes there and had a significant influence on accomplished pianists such as Garrick Ohlsson, Van Cliburn, Misha Dichter and John Browning.
In 1950, Bloch made his debut at Town Hall in New York City and since then, he has performed with numerous orchestras in the United States, Europe, and East Asia. He has travelled throughout the world, giving lecture-recitals and concerts in countries such as France, Japan, Belgium, Switzerland, and China. His recital programs included works by Scriabin, Honegger, Alkan, and by his life-long friend, Benjamin Lees. He has made recordings for Composers Recordings, Inc. of piano music by Robert Moevs, Jacques de Menasce, and Ruth Crawford Seeger. He has also written a monograph on Charles-Valentin Alkan.
Joseph Bloch died at his home in Larchmont, NY on March 4, 2009.
SERIES CONTENTS
SERIES I - PERFORMANCE FILES
SERIES II - RECORDINGS BY BLOCH
SERIES III - WRITINGS BY BLOCH
SERIES IV - CORRESPONDENCE
SERIES V - AWARDS
SERIES VI - PHOTOGRAPHS
SERIES VII - POSTERS
SERIES VIII - SCRAPBOOKS
SERIES IX - SUBJECT FILES
