Isabelle Nef, ''née'' Lander (27 September 1895 – 2 January 1976) was a Swiss pianist and

harpsichordist A harpsichordist is a person who plays the harpsichord. Harpsichordists may play as soloists, as accompanists, as chamber musicians, or as members of an orchestra, or some combination of these roles. Solo harpsichordists may play unaccompanied son ...

, as well as a professor at the Conservatoire de musique de Genève.

Life

Born in Geneva, Nef studied the piano at the conservatoire de Genève with

Marie Panthès Marie Panthès (3 November 1871 – 11 March 1955) was a French pianist, specializing in romantic piano, especially the interpretation of the works of Frédéric Chopin. Life Panthès was born in Odessa (Russian Empire) of French parents. She ...

then, in Paris, composition with

Vincent d'Indy Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy (; 27 March 18512 December 1931) was a French composer and teacher. His influence as a teacher, in particular, was considerable. He was a co-founder of the Schola Cantorum de Paris and also taught at the Par ...

and

harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...

with

Wanda Landowska Wanda Aleksandra Landowska (5 July 1879 – 16 August 1959) was a Polish harpsichordist and pianist whose performances, teaching, writings and especially her many recordings played a large role in reviving the popularity of the harpsichord in t ...

. She had a concert career in Europe, South America and North America including Seattle, New York and Washington in USSR, and South Africa and in Australia. For her 80th birthday, she performed works by Mozart and Bach on

fortepiano A fortepiano , sometimes referred to as a pianoforte, is an early piano. In principle, the word "fortepiano" can designate any piano dating from the invention of the instrument by Bartolomeo Cristofori in 1698 up to the early 19th century. Mo ...

at the in Geneva. In 1936 she became the first harpsichord teacher at the Conservatoire de Genève. She then became an honorary professor and remained there until 1975 when she retired at the age of 80. She died in

Collex-Bossy Collex-Bossy is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality of the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. History Both Collex and Bossy were first mentioned in 1258. Collex was called ''Coliacum'' while Bossy was ''Bocium''. Between 1790-1855 the mu ...

. She was succeeded by harpsichordist

Christiane Jaccottet Christiane Jaccottet (born Christiane Wachsmuth, Lausanne, Switzerland 18 May 1937; died Rivaz, 26 October 1999) was a harpsichordist who recorded the works of many composers including Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July ...

. A path was given her name in

References

External links

Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of 20th Century Classical Musicians
on

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the OCL ...

, 1997 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nef, Isabelle Swiss harpsichordists Swiss classical pianists 20th-century classical pianists Women classical pianists 1895 births 1976 deaths Musicians from Geneva