Murray Perahia

"My earliest influences, in a way, came from my father, not so much from direct musical molding or shaping, but from his way of introducing me to great music, and recognizing my abilities. He loved music very much, so he took me to the Met almost every Saturday night. Once in a while on the following day my father heard me singing again some of the arias I had heard the previous night. Furthermore, since the radio was playing a good deal of the time, classical music of course, I began to recognize and hum many of the tunes that had been played at the Met. At this time, my father felt that I should have some kind of musical training. So I began my study of the piano with a neighborhood piano teacher, as so many youngsters do. I stayed with this teacher from age four to age six."
Murray Perahia