Draft:Roger Peltzman

Roger Charles Peltzman (born in 1961) is an American pianist<ref>https://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/chopin-piano-works-75<ref>, teacher<ref>https://gb.readly.com/magazines/pianist-magazine/2023-05-19/6462872b11a5b9d663e7adc5<ref>, playwright<ref>https://www.timesofisrael.com/piano-prodigy-norbert-stern-was-slain-at-auschwitz-nephews-

play-revives-his-genius/<ref>, actor, and film director (4) based in New York City (5). He is best known for his one-person

play about the Holocaust (6), second-generation trauma (7) and music (8) Dedication. The film

version of the play has been selected and shown by ten film festivals (9,10,11) He also released a

CD of all Chopin selections also entitled Dedication in 2014 (Astre Recordings).Life

Roger Charles Peltzman was born in New York City. As a child, he grew up in Blauvelt NY.

The son of Nils Peltzman, pharmacist and Beatrice (Stern) Peltzman, social worker and

Holocaust survivor. Peltzman showed in early interest in filmmaking and music. He attended

State University of Binghamton where is received degrees in Music and Cinema (12). He was

awarded honors from both departments. He studied piano with famed pedagogue, Seymour

Fink. He received a Masters Degree in piano performance from Manhattan School of Music.

There he studied with Zenon Fishbein. After graduating from Mahattan School, Peltzman

worked in recording. He was chief engineer at legendary Water Music Recorders in Hoboken,

NJ. He also produced critically acclaimed albums such as Lee Feldman’s Living It All Wrong

Pure/Mercury (13). In 2002 he joined the faculty of the nation’s oldest community music school

– The Third Street Music Settlement. (14) He also teaches piano privately.

Playwright and solo performer

In 2022 Roger Peltzman first performed his play Dedication during a three week run at the

Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Receiving 4 star reviews and critical acclaim. (15, 16,) It also won

the Derek Award for Best Overseas Play (17)

Synopis:

Dedication is a 65-minute, one-person performance piece that combines monologue, live piano

performance, visual imagery, and humor to tell the story of Peltzman’s mother’s family before

the war and her harrowing escape from the Nazis who invaded the attic in which she and her

family were hiding. It also relates the tragic journey of my uncle—a gifted piano prodigy—from

Brussels to the gas chambers at Auschwitz. As the story unfolds, family photos, letters,

documents, (which miraculously survived the war) are projected onto a screen. Drawn into the

story of people he never knew, Peltzman develops a “relationship” with his uncle, Norbert Stern,

a brilliant pianist who was murdered in Auschwitz at age 21. Learning that Holocaust trauma can

be inherited, Peltzman recounts his coming to terms with second generation survivor trauma and

the role of music in helping to manage wounds that will never fully heal.

In June of 2023 Dedication had a 3 week run at London’s Marlyebone Theatre. (18) Again, the

show was a critical success receiving four star reviews. ‘…remarkable and riveting…’ Reviews

Hub (19). 4 stars. “An amazing story told with charm humor and wisdom” – Spectator. (20) 4

stars - frost magazine (21)

Since then, Dedication has been performed in the US (22), Brussels (23) and Berlin (24).

The film version of Dedication is distributed by Menemsha (25)

Dedication the CD, and concerts

In 2013 Peltzman recorded a CD of all Chopin works for Astre Recordings (26). The disc was

dedicated to the memory of Norbert Stern, Peltzman’s uncle. Stern was a talented pianist who

was murdered in Auschwitz at age 21. It was recorded at The Brussels Conservatory of Music

where Stern performed and won competitions. (27) Peltzman has performed at venues such as

Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall (28), Brooklyn Academy of Music (29) and cutting edge NYC club –

Le Poisson Rouge (30).