Ruth Kemper

Ruth Lowther Kemper (July 19, 1902 – December 31, 1985) was an American violinist, music educator, conductor, and arts administrator. She was executive director of the Turtle Bay Music School from 1956 to 1969.

Ruth Kemper
Ruth Kemper, from a 1922 publication.
BornJuly 19, 1902
Salem, West Virginia
DiedDecember 31, 1985
New York City
OccupationMusician, arts administrator

Early life

Kemper was born in Salem, West Virginia. Her father, T. Francis Kemper, taught music at Salem College,[1] and her mother Daisy Lowther Kemper was a clubwoman[2] who was also her concert manager.[3] She began playing violin as a small child in Clarksburg, and was hailed as a musical prodigy.[4][5] She studied with Theodore Spiering,[6][7] Charles Martin Loeffler, Eugène Ysaÿe and George Enescu, and won the Lilli Lehmann Medal at the Salzburg Orchestral Academy.[8][9]

Career

Kemper was a concert violinist as a young woman, based in New York.[10] She and singer Yvonne de Treville gave a concert together in 1920.[11] She gave recitals at Aeolian Hall in 1921, accompanied by Edwin Grasse,[3][12] and in 1924, accompanied by Arthur Loesser.[13] She played in the National Festival Trio with pianist Kathryn Eyman and cellist Lucille Orell.[14] In 1931, she gave a concert on BBC radio while performing in London.[15] She debuted new works in the 1920s and 1930s, including compositions by Marion Bauer[16] and Virgil Thomson.[17]

Kemper was also known as a conductor and music director.[18] She conducted the Salzburg Orchestra as a young woman.[9] She was music director of the WPA Music School Orchestra in 1935.[8] She was founder and director of the New York Cameo Chamber Orchestra.[15] She taught at the Brooklyn Music School Settlement in the 1920s,[19] and at Turtle Bay Music School from the 1930s. She was the Turtle Bay school's executive director from 1956 to 1969.[8]

Kemper was a founder and president (from 1955 to 1957) of the National Guild of Community Music Schools.[20] She continued teaching violin into the 1970s.[8]

Personal life

Ruth Kemper died in 1985, aged 83 years, at home in New York City.[8]

References
  1. "Kemper Lowther". The Clarksburg Telegram. 1900-08-24. p. 1. Retrieved 2020-09-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. "American Music Not Appreciated". Press and Sun-Bulletin. 1922-07-13. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-09-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Advertisement". New-York Tribune. 1921-04-25. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-09-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Progidy; In Music is Little Ruth Kemper, a Native of City of Salem". The Clarksburg Telegram. 1912-07-11. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-09-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Ruth Kemper Wins Acclaim of Londoners". The Danville Morning News. 1928-07-17. p. 2. Retrieved 2020-09-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Ruth Kemper, Violinist, Returns to New York". The Palm Beach Post. 1918-04-12. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-09-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Theodore Spiering". The Violinist. 27: 97. September 1920.
  8. "Ruth Kemper". The New York Times. 1986-01-11. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-09-20.
  9. "U. S. Girl Who Led Famous European Orchestra Returns". The Times Dispatch. 1932-01-31. p. 43. Retrieved 2020-09-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "Miss Kemper at Church Musicale". The Courier-News. 1921-05-23. p. 1. Retrieved 2020-09-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "De Treville and Kemper". Music News. 12: 28. December 31, 1920.
  12. "Ruth Kemper in Violin Recital". The New York Times. 1921-04-26. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-09-20.
  13. "Washington Heights Musical Club (advertisement)". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 1924-11-02. p. 69. Retrieved 2020-09-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. "National American Music Festival at Buffalo". Music News. 13: 29. September 2, 1921.
  15. "Violin Recital". The Radio Times (421). 1931-10-23. p. 63. ISSN 0033-8060. Retrieved 2020-09-20.
  16. Oja, Carol J. (2000). Making Music Modern: New York in the 1920s. Oxford University Press. p. 369. ISBN 978-0-19-516257-8.
  17. The Virgil Thomson Foundation, Ltd (2020-05-09). "Serenade for Flute and Violin for flute and violin (1931) | Works". Virgil Thomson – American Composer & Author. Retrieved 2020-09-20.
  18. "Conductress". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 1938-08-15. p. 5. Retrieved 2020-09-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. "Music School Settlement Concert Held Yesterday". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 1922-05-15. p. 7. Retrieved 2020-09-20 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. "Note Worthy". BusinessWest. 2007-01-22. Retrieved 2020-09-20.
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