12 Facts About Alexander Toradze

Alexander Davidovich "Lexo" Toradze was a Georgian-born American pianist, best known for his classical Russian repertoire, with a career spanning over three decades.

Alexander Toradze regularly appeared as soloist with many of the world's major orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Alexander Toradze was a professor of piano at Indiana University South Bend from 1991 to 2017.

Alexander Toradze continued his studies at the Moscow Conservatory in Moscow at nineteen under Yakov Zak, Boris Zemliansky, and Lev Naumov, graduating in 1978.

In 1977, Toradze won the silver medal in the Fifth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas.

Alexander Toradze uses every atom, every fiber of his body for no other purpose than that of living the music.

Alexander Toradze is, like Radu Lupu when he won, a mixture of the animal and the angel.

In 1991, Alexander Toradze became the Martin Endowed Professor of Piano at Indiana University South Bend.

Alexander Toradze performed with almost every major orchestra in the United States, including New York, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Minnesota, Houston, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Seattle and Washington DC Alexander Toradze appeared with the symphonies of Montreal and Toronto.

Alexander Toradze worked with various notable conductors, including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Mikko Franck, Valery Gergiev, Paavo Jarvi, Vladimir Jurowski, Gianandrea Noseda, Simon Rattle, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, and Klaus Tennstedt.

From 1990 to 2002, Alexander Toradze was married to pianist Susan Blake, with whom he had two sons, Alex and David.

Alexander Toradze died less than three weeks later on May 11,2022, in South Bend, Indiana, aged 69.