Born in
Manhattan, New York, he attended the
Ethical Culture schools and undertook additional studies through the
Columbia University Extension School. He studied piano with
Ernest Hutcheson and
Bertha Tapper, and composition with
Rubin Goldmark at the
Juilliard School of Music before proceeding to the
Curtis Institute of Music in
Philadelphia where he undertook further piano studies with
Józef Hofmann. In 1931 he studied
music analysis with Sir
Donald Tovey in
London. Chasins' career as a pianist lasted from 1927 until 1947. He gave many solo recitals and performed with major orchestras in the United States, Canada, South America and Europe. On January 1, 1929, he made his debut playing his Piano Concerto No 1 with the
Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by
Ossip Gabrilowitsch. He also gave the premiere performance of his Second Piano Concerto in March 1933, again with the Philadelphia Orchestra, this time conducted by
Leopold Stokowski. From 1926 to 1935 Chasins taught piano as a member of the faculty of the Curtis Institute. He was associated with the radio station
WQXR from 1941 to 1965, becoming the music director in 1946. His own radio series,
Piano Pointers, ran from 1932 to 1939 and he used his E flat minor Prelude as the program's theme. In 1949 he married
Constance Keene, a pianist and former student of his, with whom he performed and recorded piano duos. In 1972 he joined the
University of Southern California as musician-in-residence, and reorganized the student-run radio station
KUSC into a channel for classical and modern music. He retired in 1977, and died of cancer at his home in Manhattan on June 21, 1987. Chasins wrote over 100 compositions, mostly for the piano. His
Three Chinese Pieces (1920s) were performed by celebrated pianists including
Josef Lhévinne, Józef Hofmann,
William Kapell and
Shura Cherkassky, and in its orchestrated version was the first American work to be performed by
Arturo Toscanini with the
New York Philharmonic. The "Concert Paraphrase on Strauss's 'Artist's Life'" is among his best works for two pianos, four hands, and his 24 Preludes for Piano (1928) continue to be used as teaching pieces. ==Footnotes==