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Cartoonist Misha Dichter (He Plays Piano, Too)

Misha Dichter is a man of many talents, though you probably know him as the gifted pianist who won the silver medal at 1966 Tchaikovsky Competition, spurring an international career that has lasted more than 40 years.

In his new book A Pianist's World in Drawings (available only as an e-book), Dichter reveals himself to be a witty cartoonist and sketch artist as well. Unsurprisingly, his career has presented pretty rich fodder, from the vagaries of a job lived out on the road to life at the Aspen Music Festival, where he — along with his wife, fellow pianist Cipa Dichter — has been a resident artist and faculty member for more than 25 years. Dichter also turns his gimlet eye on the classical music business, from revealing the true nature of agents to poking fun at, well, poker-faced critics. Sharply rendered and often quite funny, his cartoons and sketches reveal Dichter's life at and away from the piano.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Anastasia Tsioulcas is a reporter on NPR's Arts desk. She is intensely interested in the arts at the intersection of culture, politics, economics and identity, and primarily reports on music. Recently, she has extensively covered gender issues and #MeToo in the music industry, including backstage tumult and alleged secret deals in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations against megastar singer Plácido Domingo; gender inequity issues at the Grammy Awards and the myriad accusations of sexual misconduct against singer R. Kelly.