Winifred Byrd

Winifred Byrd (May 24, 1884, Salem, Oregon – April 3, 1970, Los Angeles, California)[1] was an American concert pianist and educator.

Education

Byrd attended Willamette University and graduated from New England Conservatory (NEC) in 1905. While studying at NEC she won the Spaulding scholarship.[2] Byrd taught for a time at NEC shortly after her graduation.[2]

Byrd studied in Boston with "Madame Hopekirk," Carl Baermann, and Theresa Carreño and eventually taught music at Olivet College in Olivet, Michigan.[2]

Performances

Winifred Byrd made her New York debut on February 27, 1918 and went on to perform in Chicago, Boston, Portland, Oregon, and San Francisco.[3] Impresario Aaron Richmond presented Byrd in Boston in 1925, billing her as "America's Pianist."

James Huneker, reviewing a Byrd recital for the New York Times on November 4, 1918 wrote, "She blazes with temperament. She has the energy of a demon..." Hunecker also noted Byrd's, "Buster Brown coiffure ...".[4]

Recordings

Byrd made at least two Duo-Art reproducing piano rolls, Franz Liszt's Dance of the Gnomes, from Concert Etudes No. 2, and Chopin's Preludes, Opus 28, No. 1 in C major and No. 23 in F major, for the Aeolian American Corporation.[5]

References

  1. ^ "Salem Pioneer Cemetery Data". Oregon Health Division Vital Records and Oregon State Archives. http://www.salempioneercemetery.org. Retrieved 10 September 2008. 
  2. ^ a b c Siller, Mabel Harriet; Florence Arzelia (1917). The History of Alpha Chi Omega Fraternity (1885–1916). George Banta Publishing. 
  3. ^ Jones, Al. "Winifred Byrd: America's Wonder Pianist". Historic Marion, Volume XV. 
  4. ^ Huneker, James Gibbons (5 November 1918). "Recitals of a Day". The New York Times. http://proquest.umi.com. Retrieved 3 August 2008. 
  5. ^ Aeolian American Corporation (1924). Catalog of Music-rolls for the Duo-Art Reproducing Piano. 

Further reading