"Ruth Slenczynska: The Last Living Piano Student of Rachmaninov at 99"
Ruth Slenczynska, the last living piano student of Sergei Rachmaninoff, reflects on her remarkable career as a child prodigy and her enduring love for music as she approaches her 99th birthday. Despite a difficult childhood and abusive father, she found solace in music and went on to have a successful concert career, recording her first album in nearly 60 years at age 97. Now retired, she resides in Pennsylvania, enjoying the quiet and occasionally offering advice to promising students, while cherishing the lifelong impact of her mentor, Rachmaninoff.