Gregor Benko

Who is Gregor Benko?

Gregor Benko is an American writer, lecturer, record producer, and collector-historian whose primary focus is classical piano performance documented on recordings from the Romantic Era. His work helped lay the groundwork for the "Romantic Revival," which continued on into the 21st century.

He was the founder, along with Albert Petrak of the International Piano Archives. Benko managed the non-profit institution for two decades, attracting Spanish virtuosa Alicia de Larrocha to act as the actual President of the corporation, and building an enormous collection of recordings, scores, memorabilia and associated matter concerning concert pianists. In 1977 Benko donated the collections to the University of Maryland, College Park, where they formed the nucleus of the International Piano Archives at Maryland.

Perhaps Benko's most hailed achievement to date is the unearthing and publishing of all known recordings of the Polish virtuoso Josef Hofmann, as well as dozens of historic recordings by other "golden age" pianists. He is also credited with rediscovering and bringing back to public awareness the elderly and reclusive Hungarian piano virtuoso Ervin Nyiregyházi.