Minuetta Kessler
Minuetta Kessler (September 5, 1914 – November 30, 2002) was a Russian-born Canadian and later American composer, pianist and educator.[1]
The daughter of Abraham Isaac Shumiatcher and Luba Lubinsky,[2] she was born Minuetta Shumiatcher in Gomel and grew up in Calgary; her parents were living in Calgary but her mother was visiting Russia when she was born. A child prodigy, she first performed her own compositions in public at age five.[3] She studied with Gladys Egbert in Calgary and Ernest Hutcheson, Ania Dorfmann and Ivan Langstroth at the Julliard School, where she also taught for several years.[1]
She won CAPAC awards for her compositions New York Suite(1945) and Ballet Sonatina (1946). In 1947, Kessler premiered her Alberta Concerto on CBC radio; it was also performed by orchestras in Boston, Calgary, Montreal, Quebec City, Regina and Toronto.[1]
Kessler composed music for piano, violin, voice, flute, clarinet and cello, as well as for chamber ensembles. In 1978, recordings of several of her chamber pieces were made featuring prominent Boston area musicians.[4]
Kessler moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1952 and moved to Belmont the following year.[1] She operated her own publishing company, Musical Resources, in Belmont.[3] In 1958, she founded the New England Jewish Music Forum. Kessler served as president of the New England Pianoforte Teachers' Association from 1965 to 1967 and of the Massachusetts Music Teachers Association from 1979 to 1981. Kessler gave workshops and lectures for teachers and wrote articles for periodicals such as The Christian Science Monitor, Clavier and Massachusetts Music News.[1] In 1984, she received a Master Teachers Certificate Diploma from the Music Teachers National Association.[3]
She was married twice: first to Ernest Borek and then, in 1952, to Myer M. Kessler.[3]
Kessler died in Belmont at the age of 88.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Musselwhite, Florence. "Kessler, Minuetta". The Canadian Encyclopedia.
- ^ "Abraham I. Shumiatcher fonds". Glenbow Museum.
- ^ a b c d "Minuetta Kessler fonds". Archives Society of Alberta.
- ^ "Minuetta Kessler". Violin music by women.
External links
- The Boston Composers Project: A Bibliography of Contemporary Music. Boston Area Music Libraries. 1983. pp. 265–275. ISBN 0262021986.
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