Nico Kaufmann

Nico Kaufmann (24 June 1916 – 23 November 1996) was a Swiss pianist and composer whose career was closely connected with Zurich. He was born and died in Zurich. He was the son of an amateur composer who worked as a physician.

Kaufmann studied piano and composition at the Zurich Conservatory with Emil Frey. From 1937 to 1939 he also studied with Vladimir Horowitz and is regarded as Horowitz’s only pupil from his European period; later he took lessons with Dinu Lipatti.

In 1945 he won the Geneva International Music Competition, having received second prize there two years earlier. In the postwar years he worked as music director and arranger for the well-known Swiss cabaret Cabaret Cornichon.

As a composer he wrote music for musical theatre and ballet, as well as piano works and songs. His most important vocal work mentioned in the sources is a song cycle setting 17 poems by Hermann Hesse.

Kaufmann also ran the music section of the Swiss gay newspaper Der Kreis. In Zurich, the Nico Kaufmann Foundation operates under the patronage of the city authorities, awarding scholarships in his memory to Swiss musicians up to the age of 35.

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