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Monday, April 15, 2013

David Burge, an American pianist and composer known as an indefatigable champion of 20th-century music, died on April 1 in Warwick, R.I. He was 83.

A longtime faculty member of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, Mr. Burge (his surname rhymes with “verge”) performed from the 1950s onward on some of the world’s most renowned concert stages. From his earliest appearances, his recital programs — novel, ambitious and technically rigorous — consisted almost entirely of contemporary works.