13 Facts About Teresa Sterne

Teresa Sterne was an American concert pianist and record producer.

Teresa Sterne's mother was a professional cellist who retired from her career to advance her daughter's musical development.

Teresa Sterne's paternal uncle was a distinguished violinist who helped develop her talents.

Teresa Sterne showed musical talent at an early age and was taken out of school at the age of 10 to be privately tutored and focus on the piano.

Teresa Sterne began performing at the age of eleven and made her professional debut at twelve when she performed Grieg's Piano Concerto with the NBC Symphony Orchestra at Madison Square Garden.

Teresa Sterne lacked the strength to fully handle the work's thundering octave passages, they uniformly praised her temperament, singing tone and impressive technique.

Teresa Sterne again performed Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto with the New York Philharmonic at Lewisohn Stadium at the age of 19.

In 1965, Teresa Sterne became director of Nonesuch Records, a label that had been created the previous year as part of Jac Holzman's pop- and folk-oriented Elektra Records.

Teresa Sterne died in her Manhattan apartment after suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease.

When Teresa Sterne became director of Nonesuch Records, the label's function consisted mostly of buying the rights to European ensembles' recordings of Baroque music and reissuing them in the United States.

Teresa Sterne made a name for herself at Nonesuch by producing music that other major recording labels ignored, including American vernacular music, world music, and music by contemporary composers.

Teresa Sterne produced recordings by American composers George Crumb, Elliott Carter, Morton Subotnick, Charles Wuorinen and Donald Martino, and commissioned original music by them.

Teresa Sterne issued important recordings of lesser-known works by Schoenberg, Busoni, and Stravinsky.