Mr. Halimís first teacher was a Hungarian, Alfonse Becalel. Rapid development led to the boyís playing Beethovenís Third Piano Concerto at the age of eleven and, at thirteen, a debut recital. Mr. Halimís next teacher was the Belgian trained Stephen Michael Sulungan. Mr. Halim recounts, ìOften, his lessons amounted to a kind of supervised practiceÖLater, Mr. Horowitz did something similar for me.î By 1980, when he was nineteen, he came to the United States to enter the Juilliard School as a pupil of the noted Sascha Gorodnitzky. ìUnder his guidance I found a new sense of discipline and learned how to work on something for a long time, in great detail.î

After four years and Gorodnitzkyís passing, Mr. Halim turned to the distinguished Rudolph Firkusny, ìHe worked with me in interpreting such varied forms as those in Schumannís Davidsb¸ndlert”nze and the concerti of Brahms and Schumann.î When Harold C. Schonberg, author of The Great Pianists, heard Mr. Halim, he was struck by the pianistís bold interpretations of the Romantic repertoire. Mr. Schonberg wrote a letter about the young manís unusual potential to the legendary Vladimir Horowitz.