Jacques Abram

Who was Jacques Abram?

Jacques Abram, an American classical pianist, was born in Lufkin, Texas and died in Tampa, Florida.

Abram began improvising at age 3 and performing in public at age 6. As a youth he studied with Ima Hogg and Ruth Burr of Houston. At the urging of Ignace Jan Paderewski and Josef Hofmann, who had heard Abram in concert, his parents enrolled him in the Curtis Institute, where he studied with David Saperton. At age 13, Abram transferred to the Juilliard School, where he continued his studies with Ernest Hutcheson. The well-known pianist and Leschetizky pupil Arthur Shattuck also mentored Abram for many years. The National Federation of Music Clubs awarded Abram its Schubert Memorial Award in 1937. As a result of winning these awards Abram debuted with the Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall performing the Mac Dowell D minor concerto.

During World War II, Abram was stationed with a special services unit in San Antonio, Texas. He became the artist in residence at Oklahoma College for Women, Chickasha, Oklahoma, in 1955, where he numbered among his devoted pupils Margaret McConnell, Larry Graham, Karen Reynolds, and Leon Whitesell.