Carola Grindea ( Rabinovici) (29 January 1914 – 10 July 2009) was a Romanian-born British pianist and piano teacher who established the

European Piano Teachers Association European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

(EPTA) and the International Society for Study of Tension in Performance (ISSTP). She taught at the

Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle The Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, usually referred to as the Lycée or the French Lycée, is a French co-educational primary and secondary independent school, independent day school, situated in South Kensington in the Royal Borough ...

and later the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz ...

and developed the Grindea Technique to encourage a balance though not relaxed body posture to eliminate muscular tension and better the performer's technique.

Early life

Carola Rabinovici was born in the Romanian city of

Piatra Neamț Piatra Neamț (; german: Kreuzburg an der Bistrița (Siret), Bistritz; hu, Karácsonkő) is the capital city of Neamț County, in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in northeastern Romania. Because of its privileged location in the Easter ...

in the province of

Western Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova), also called Western Moldavia or Romanian Moldavia, is the historic and geographical part of the former Principality of Moldavia situated in eastern and north-eastern Romania. Until its union with Wallachia in 1859, the Pr ...

on 29 January 1914. She was of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

descent, and had one sister, Anna (1908–1984). Grindea was educated under the tutelage of Constanța Erbiceanu at the

National University of Music Bucharest The National University of Music Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea Naţională de Muzică București, UNMB) is a university-level school of music located in Bucharest, Romania. Established as a school of music in 1863 and reorganized as an academy in ...

. She earned a diploma in piano and won first prize for her achievements. There, she attracted the attention of

Miron Grindea Miron Grindea (31 January 1909 – 18 November 1995) was a Romanian-born literary journalist and the editor of '' ADAM International Review'', a literary magazine published for more than 50 years. In 1984 ''ADAM'' was said to be "the world's lon ...

, the literary journalist. The two became romantically involved and were married in 1936 and had a daughter.

Career

Grindea was holidaying in Europe before the outbreak of the Second World War and she and her husband arrived in the port town of

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

on 2 September 1939. She had the phone number of

Myra Hess Dame Julia Myra Hess, (25 February 1890 – 25 November 1965) was an English pianist best known for her performances of the works of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Schumann. Career Early life Julia Myra Hess was born on 25 February 1890 to a Jew ...

, the pianist, and the latter invited the couple to her house in

Golders Green Golders Green is an area in the London Borough of Barnet in England. A smaller suburban linear settlement, near a farm and public grazing area green of medieval origins, dates to the early 19th century. Its bulk forms a late 19th century and ea ...

, where they learnt of the declaration of war. Grindea urged Hess not to enlist as an ambulance driver and instead establish a series of lunchtime concerts at London's

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

that ran during the war. She earned money by teaching and playing piano. Grindea also studied piano with Hess's teacher

Tobias Matthay Tobias Augustus Matthay (19 February 185815 December 1945) was an English pianist, teacher, and composer. Biography Matthay was born in Clapham, Surrey, in 1858 to parents who had come from northern Germany and eventually became naturalised Brit ...

from 1941 to 1943, and worked for the Romanian language division of the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

Early life

Career

References