Key Maerkl

Interviewing Josef Gingold by Kim Maerkl

His voice, his shadow, it was unmistakable, when Josef Gingold walked the halls of the Indiana University School of Music; students felt caressed by his presence. I admired this charismatic man from a distance. Maybe if I had been his student, I would never have had the courage to ask him for an interview. I was young and wanted to write about him; he was eighty years old.

When I knocked on his door and asked him for an interview, he said yes. A week later I was in his studio with my Sony Walkman and an external microphone the size of a finger actually having a conversation with this great man. At that time I wasn't thinking of an audio release, the machine was not remotely suitable for that, but it was unobtrusive and took away the formal atmosphere associated with a professional recording. Mr. Gingold began to speak, and his recollections danced on his gravely voice. I was incredibly moved by his enthusiasm for life and music.

The article was never published, but the cassette waited patiently in a box for twenty-six years. I've now made it available on iTunes, and it's called Josef Gingold Exclusive Interview: His Life, His Playing, His Teaching.

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