Following Kristallnacht , Pressler and his immediate family fled Nazi Germany in 1939 , initially to Italy , and then to Palestine . His grandparents , uncles , aunts and cousins all died in concentration camps . His career was launched after he won first prize at the Debussy International Piano Competition in San Francisco in 1946 . His Carnegie Hall debut subsequently followed , with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy . Since 1955 , Pressler has taught on the piano faculty at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music , where he holds the rank of Distinguished Professor of Music as the Charles Webb Chair . His debut as a chamber musician was at the 1955 Berkshire Festival , where he appeared as the pianist of the Beaux Arts Trio , with Daniel Guilet , violin , and Bernard Greenhouse , cello . Although he was a junior partner in the Beaux Arts Trio at the outset , Pressler ultimately became the only original member of the trio to perform with the group through its entire existence , including several changes of membership , up to the dissolution of the trio in 2008 . In 2010 , he played at the Rheingau Musik Festival with Antônio Meneses , the last cellist of the Beaux Arts Trio , and appeared before in the series '' Rendezvous ''
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Menahem Pressler