Harold von Mickwitz (''né'' Paul Harald von Mickwitz; 22 May 1859 — 12 February 1938) was an American concert pianist and composer who had been head the piano departments of conservatories in Germany and the United States.

Education

Mickwitz was born in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

and studied music at the

Saint Petersburg Conservatory The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory (russian: Санкт-Петербургская государственная консерватория имени Н. А. Римского-Корсакова) (formerly known as th ...

from 1870 to 1877, initially studying piano with

Louis Brassin Louis Brassin (24 June 184017 May 1884) was a Belgian pianist, composer and music educator. He is best known now for his piano transcription of the ''Magic Fire Music'' from Wagner's ''Die Walküre''. Career Louis Brassin was born in Aix-la-Chap ...

and composition with

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...

. He eventually began studying piano with

Theodor Leschetizky Theodor Leschetizky (sometimes spelled Leschetitzky, pl, Teodor Leszetycki; 22 June 1830 – 14 November 1915 was an Austrian-Polish pianist, professor, and composer born in Landshut in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, then a crown land of ...

, who, in 1862, had been one of the founders of the conservatory. In 1877, Leschetizky moved to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. Mickwitz followed him there and continued to study with him for three more years. In 1880, von Mickwitz began concertizing, mostly in Germany.Kidd-Key College and Conservatory records, DeGolyer Library,

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

Career

In 1886, he began teaching piano at the

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

Conservatory of Music, and from 1893 to 1895, he taught piano at the

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

Conservatory of Music. Von Mickwitz immigrated to the United States from

, arriving by ship from

Antwerp, Belgium Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, August 19, 1897. That same year, he was appointed to head the newly established music conservatory at

Kidd-Key College Kidd-Key College was a college and music conservatory for women located in Sherman, Texas. The college was established in 1877 as the North Texas Female College, although its origins were in a private high school, the Sherman Male and Female High Sc ...

Sherman, Texas Sherman is a U.S. city in and the county seat of Grayson County, Texas. The city's population in 2020 was 43,645. It is one of the two principal cities in the Sherman–Denison metropolitan statistical area, and it is part of the Texoma region o ...

. On October 22, 1902, von Mickwitz became a

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

U.S. citizen Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...

during a ceremony in Federal Court in

. From 1906 to 1908, he was head of the piano department at the Bush Conservatory of Music in Chicago. From 1912 to 1916, he again became head of the piano department at the Bush Conservatory of Music in Chicago. From 1916 to 1918, he was Dean of Music at

.''Mickwitz Circle to Honor Master at Annual Party,''

Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...

, October 18, 1931, Sec. III, pg. 6 He left SMU in 1918 to accept a position as a principal piano teacher at the

Institute of Musical Art The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most e ...

(

Juilliard The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

). In 1932, he taught in

. In 1934, while teaching in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, von Mickwitz accepted an offer to return to

to replace Frank Pettis Handy Pipes (1877–1933), who had died. Von Mickwitz died, aged 78, in his native city of

Notable students

Chicago *

Elsie Barge Elsie Barge (October 12, 1898 – December 16, 1962) was an American pianist, music educator, and clubwoman. Early life Elsie Thomas Barge was born in Cordele, Georgia and raised in Brookhaven, Mississippi, the daughter of Thomas Cicero Barge ...

Germany * Jeanette Tillett Kidd-Key College *

Wynne Pyle Wynne Pyle ''(née'' Wynne Belle Pyle 24 October 1881 Ladonia, Texas — 24 April 1971 Miami, Florida) was an American concert pianist. Early education She studied piano at the North Texas College of Music at Kidd-Key College in Sherman, Texas, ...

*Blanche Haynes Hill

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mickwitz, Harold 1856 births 1938 deaths American classical pianists American male pianists Finnish emigrants to the United States (1809–1917) Male classical pianists Texas classical music