János Starker (; ; July 5, 1924 – April 28, 2013) was a Hungarian-American cellist. From 1958 until his death, he taught at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he held the title of Distinguished Professor. Starker is considered one of the greatest cellists of all time. Biography Child prodigy Starker was born in Budapest to a father of Polish descent and a mother who had immigrated from the Russian Empire, both Jewish. His two older brothers were violinists, and the young János (named for the hospital Szent János kórház [lit. St. John's Hospital] in which he was born) was given a cello before his sixth birthday. A child prodigy, Starker made his first public performances at ages six and seven. He entered the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest to study with Adolf Schiffer and made his debut there at age 11. Starker began teaching other children at age eight, and by the time he was 12, he had five pupils. Starker counted among his strongest influences Leo Weiner, a composer who taught chamber music. Zoltán Kodály, Béla Bartók and Ernő Dohnányi were also members of the Liszt Academy faculty. In his autobiography, Starker wrote that at the age of 13 he played Dohnányi's Konzertstuck for Cello for the composer (who was then the director of the Academy), who accompanied him at the piano. Starker made his professional debut at age 14, playing the Dvořák concerto with three hours' notice when the originally scheduled soloist was unable to play. He left the Liszt Academy in 1939 and spent most of the war in Budapest. Because of his youth, Starker escaped the tragic fate of his older brothers, who were pressed into forced labor and eventually murdered by the Nazis. Starker nevertheless spent three months in a Nazi internment camp. Professional career After the war, Starker became principal cellist of the Budapest Opera and the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra. Starker left Hungary in 1946. He gave a successful concert in Vienna, then remained there to prepare for the Geneva Cello Competition. At the competition, held in October 1946, he received a bronze medal. After competing in Geneva, Starker spent a year working on his technique in Paris. "I played like a blind man," he said. "What happens to the bird who flies and doesn't know how it flies? That's what happens to child prodigies." At the conclusion of