Born: October 31, 1920, Atlantic City,  NJ

Died: November 10, 2014, West Long Branch, New Jersey

‍

Annette Elkanova, aka Annette Block Berger, the daughter of Russian immigrants grew up on Atlantic City, NJ. At age 13 she entered the Curtis Institute where from 1934 - 1942 she studied with Isabelle Vengerova. She was a classmate and colleague of Leonard Bernstein. She presented her solo debut in Atlantic City at Convention Hall, playing Liszt and hailed for her "wrists of steel." At age 21, she was named a winner of the 1942 Naumburg Award presenting her Naumburg concert on January 19, 1943 in Town Hall.

‍

‍