Composer and Virtuoso Pianist. Ferruccio Busoni was the only child of two professional musicians: his Italian/German mother a pianist, his Italian father a clarinetist. He was a child prodigy. He made his public debut on the piano with his parents, at the age of seven. A couple of years later he played some of his own compositions in Vienna where he heard Franz Liszt play, he met Frank Liszt, Johannes Brahms and Anton Rubinstein. In 1894 he settled in Berlin, giving a series of concerts there both as pianist and conductor. He particularly promoted contemporary music. He also continued to teach in a number of master classes at Weimar, Vienna and Basel; among his pupils were Kurt Weill, Egon Petri and Stefan Wolpe.  Ferruccio died in Berlin. (bio by: Shock)