Eugene List

Eugene List (1918-1985) gained fame when he was summoned to play for Winston Churchill, Harry Truman and Josef Stalin at the Potsdam Conference. At the 1945 Potsdam performance, Stalin gave then Staff Sgt. List a standing toast. Before the conference was over, Mr. List was asked to play four more times. He played the Tchaikovsky B-Flat Minor Concerto, as well as an assortment of works by American and Russian composers. President Truman sat next to Mr. List during several of these recitals.

Mr. List was also known for "monster concerts," scheduling pieces that required a number of pianos on stage. In 1970, Mr. List and nine of his students from the Eastman School of Music appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show performing a Gottschalk piece on ten pianos.