After childhood keyboard lessons with various teachers in Chicago, Rosalyn Tureck went to Juilliard to study with the famed Olga Samaroff. Though she had performed in recitals and concerts as a child in Chicago, Tureck attracted particular attention with her New York debut shortly after her graduation in 1935. Over the next ten years, she narrowed her repertoire, eventually becoming most closely associated with the music of J.S. Bach. After her European debut in 1947, she began a successful international career that eventually took her to Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Israel. In the early 1960s she took up the harpsichord and clavichord, though the piano remained her primary vehicle for performance; she also occasionally took the podium as conductor. In tandem with a well-regarded concert and recording career, Tureck held numerous teaching posts as such institutions as Juilliard, Columbia University, and Oxford University; and published articles and books on pedagogical and performance-related topics, particularly in relation to the music of Bach. As a performer she was singled out for her intensity of feeling and clear contrapuntal sense; no less a luminary than Glenn Gould spoke highly of her considerable gifts.