Szeryng was born in a very small village called Żelazowa Wola in Poland. The famous composer Chopin had also been born in this village. Henryk started to learn the piano from his mother when he was five. When he was seven he changed to the violin. His violin teacher was Maurice Frenkel who had been an assistant to the famous violin teacher Leopold Auer. Four years later he went to Berlin to study with Carl Flesch who was a wonderful teacher for him. Szerynk later said: “Everything I know about the violin I learned from him. After three years he went to Paris to have lessons with Jacques Thibaud at the Paris Conservatory. He got the first prize in 1937. He also studied composition in Paris with Nadia Boulanger, and continued studying with her until 1939.