Born in Sacramento, California on January 15, 1925, Ruth Slenczynska is a classical pianist and the last surviving pupil of legendary Russian pianist and composer Sergei Rachmaninoff. At the age of three, her Polish father forced her to practice on the piano. The following year, she studied piano in Europe under a variety of teachers including Sergei Rachmaninoff. At the age of six, she made her debut performance in Berlin, Germany and was performing with a full orchestra in Paris, France by the age of seven. After years of emotional pressure, she withdrew from performing at the age of 15. After studying at the University of California in Berkeley, she married in 1944. However, a decade later, she divorced and returned to her career. She signed with Decca Records and began recording in the late 1950s. Ruth Slenczynska wrote a memoir, Forbidden Childhood, which dealt with her life as a child prodigy. In 1964, she became the Artist in Residence at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, a position she held until 1987. While she continued to record, she had left Decca in the early 1960s and released albums on several other labels. In January 2022, at the age of 97, Ruth Slenczynska re-signed to Decca Records and released the album My Life in Music in March. Recorded in 2021, the album celebrates the pianist’s nine-decade career. Ruth Slenczynska died in Cupertino, California, on April 22, 2026, at the age of 101.
