trigger for focal dystonia, a neurological disorder that causes loss of function and uncontrollable curling in the fingers. The pianist Leon Fleisher, a close friend of Graffman, also had the disorder. Later career Shortly after joining the Curtis faculty, he published a memoir, I Really Should Be Practicing. In 1985 he gave the UK premiere of Erich Wolfgang Korngold's Piano Concerto in C-sharp for the Left Hand. Paul Wittgenstein had commissioned the work in the 1920s and played it many times, but it later slipped from the repertoire. Seven left-hand works have been commissioned for Graffman. In 1993, for example, he performed the world premiere of Ned Rorem's Piano Concerto No. 4, written specifically for the left hand, and in 2001 he premiered Daron Hagen's concerto Seven Last Words. The American composer William Bolcom composed Gaea, a concerto for two pianos left hand for Graffman and Leon Fleisher. It received its first performance in Baltimore in April 1996. The concerto is constructed in such a way that it can be performed in one of three ways, with either piano part alone with reduced orchestra, or with both piano parts and the two reduced orchestras combined into a full orchestra. Honors Graffman has received honorary doctoral degrees, was honored by the cities of Philadelphia and New York, and received the Governor's Arts Award by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. His students include pianists Lydia Artymiw, Lang Lang, Yuja Wang, Haochen Zhang and Szu-Yu Su. References Further reading Graffman, Gary (1982). I Really Should Be Practicing. New York: Avon. External links Gary Graffman collection, International Piano Archives at Maryland, University of Maryland Libraries. 1928 births Living people 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century classical pianists 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century classical pianists American classical pianists American male classical pianists American music educators American people of Russian-Jewish descent Classical musicians from New York (state) Classical musicians from Pennsylvania Classical pianists who played with one arm Curtis Institute of Music alumni Columbia College (New York) alumni Curtis Institute of Music faculty Educators from New York City Educators from Philadelphia Jewish American classical musicians Jewish classical pianists Leventritt Award winners Manhattan School of Music faculty Musicians from New York City Musicians from Philadelphia Musicians with dystonia Fulbright alumni