Helena Lewyn | |
---|---|
![]() Helena Lewyn, from the Library of Congress | |
Born |
Houston, Texas, U.S. | December 16, 1889
Died | August 30, 1980
Grants Pass, Oregon, U.S. | (aged 90)
Other names | Helena Lewyn-Hassenstein |
Occupations |
|
Spouse |
Walter Kurt Max Hassenstein
(
m. 1928, divorced) |
Helena Lewyn (December 16, 1889 [1] – August 30, 1980) was an American pianist, composer, and piano teacher.
Lewyn was born in Houston, Texas, [2] [3] the daughter of Isadore Lewyn and Carrie Jeremias Lewyn. Her family was Jewish; her parents were both born in Germany, and her father was a druggist. She showed musical aptitude from early childhood. [4] [5] She studied piano with Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler in Chicago and with Conrad Ansorge and Leopold Godowsky in Berlin. She also studied composition with Edgar Stillman Kelley. [6] [7] [8]
Lewyn toured giving concerts in Germany in 1909, [9] made her London debut at Bechstein Hall in the spring of 1910, [10] and toured with the New York Symphony Orchestra under Walter Damrosch from 1910 to 1912. [3] [7] In 1910 the Houston Music Festival Association presented her with a gold medal, to "cordially congratulate you upon making such a triumphant American debut in your home city." [11]
Lewyn was based in Los Angeles by the end of 1922. [12] She served on the advisory board for the Hollywood Bowl summer concerts, [13] and participated in a benefit event for the Los Angeles Music School Settlement in 1925. [14] She also performed at the Hollywood Bowl on several occasions. [15] [16] She and violinist Vera Barstow gave a series of joint performances in southern California and on radio programs in the 1920s. [17] [18] She also performed with violinist Ben Whitman. [19]
In the 1930s and 1940s, she continued to give concerts, [20] including radio concerts, [21] and taught at her own piano studio on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. [5] [16] One of her students was actor Bobby Breen. [22] "Her program, although on the conventional side, was meaty, judiciously built and executed with musicianly aplomb," commented one reviewer in 1945. [20]
Lewyn was known to compose music. She set a poem by fellow Texan Judd Mortimer Lewis to music in 1910. [23] She owned an antique German piano. [24]
Lewyn married Walter Kurt Max Hassenstein in Berlin in 1928; they later divorced. She died in 1980, at the age of 90, while on vacation in Grants Pass, Oregon. [25]
Helena Lewyn | |
---|---|
![]() Helena Lewyn, from the Library of Congress | |
Born |
Houston, Texas, U.S. | December 16, 1889
Died | August 30, 1980
Grants Pass, Oregon, U.S. | (aged 90)
Other names | Helena Lewyn-Hassenstein |
Occupations |
|
Spouse |
Walter Kurt Max Hassenstein
(
m. 1928, divorced) |
Helena Lewyn (December 16, 1889 [1] – August 30, 1980) was an American pianist, composer, and piano teacher.
Lewyn was born in Houston, Texas, [2] [3] the daughter of Isadore Lewyn and Carrie Jeremias Lewyn. Her family was Jewish; her parents were both born in Germany, and her father was a druggist. She showed musical aptitude from early childhood. [4] [5] She studied piano with Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler in Chicago and with Conrad Ansorge and Leopold Godowsky in Berlin. She also studied composition with Edgar Stillman Kelley. [6] [7] [8]
Lewyn toured giving concerts in Germany in 1909, [9] made her London debut at Bechstein Hall in the spring of 1910, [10] and toured with the New York Symphony Orchestra under Walter Damrosch from 1910 to 1912. [3] [7] In 1910 the Houston Music Festival Association presented her with a gold medal, to "cordially congratulate you upon making such a triumphant American debut in your home city." [11]
Lewyn was based in Los Angeles by the end of 1922. [12] She served on the advisory board for the Hollywood Bowl summer concerts, [13] and participated in a benefit event for the Los Angeles Music School Settlement in 1925. [14] She also performed at the Hollywood Bowl on several occasions. [15] [16] She and violinist Vera Barstow gave a series of joint performances in southern California and on radio programs in the 1920s. [17] [18] She also performed with violinist Ben Whitman. [19]
In the 1930s and 1940s, she continued to give concerts, [20] including radio concerts, [21] and taught at her own piano studio on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. [5] [16] One of her students was actor Bobby Breen. [22] "Her program, although on the conventional side, was meaty, judiciously built and executed with musicianly aplomb," commented one reviewer in 1945. [20]
Lewyn was known to compose music. She set a poem by fellow Texan Judd Mortimer Lewis to music in 1910. [23] She owned an antique German piano. [24]
Lewyn married Walter Kurt Max Hassenstein in Berlin in 1928; they later divorced. She died in 1980, at the age of 90, while on vacation in Grants Pass, Oregon. [25]