Margaret Pardee Butterly (May 10, 1920 – January 26, 2016) was an American

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist and violin teacher.

Life and career

Pardee was born in 1920 and grew up in

Valdosta, Georgia Valdosta is a city in and the county seat of Lowndes County, Georgia, Lowndes County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. As of 2019, Valdosta had an estimated population of 56,457. Valdosta is the principal city of the Valdosta Metr ...

. She graduated from the

Juilliard School 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 el ...

where she studied with

Ivan Galamian Ivan Alexander Galamian ( hy, Իվան Ղալամեան; April 14, 1981) was an Armenian-American violin teacher of the twentieth century who was the violin teacher of many seminal violin players including Itzhak Perlman. Biography Galamian w ...

Sascha Jacobsen Sascha Jacobsen (11 December .S. 29 November1895 - 19 March 1972) was an American violinist and teacher born in Russia, now Finland.In his book "Great Masters of the Violin", Boris Schwarz claims that Jacobsen was born in New York in 1897 and that ...

Albert Spalding Albert Goodwill Spalding (September 2, 1849 – September 9, 1915) was an American pitcher, manager, and executive in the early years of professional baseball, and the co-founder of A.G. Spalding sporting goods company. He was born and raised ...

and

Louis Persinger Louis Persinger (11 February 1887, Rochester, Illinois31 December 1966, New York, New York) was an American violinist, pianist and professor of violin. Persinger had early lessons in Colorado, appearing in public by the age of 12. His main studies ...

. After a brief solo career, Pardee started teaching in the 1940s. She taught at Juilliard for over 60 years. She also taught at the Meadowmount School of Music summer programs. She married Daniel Butterly. In addition to mentoring her students, she was a surrogate mother to many and housed one or two students at a time for many years. Throughout her career, she collected violins and violas. In her mid-eighties, she donated a set of 30 violins and violas to the Juilliard School, including a 1771

Guadagnini Giovanni Battista Guadagnini (often shortened to G. B. Guadagnini; 23 June 1711 – 18 September 1786) was an Italian luthier, regarded as one of the finest craftsmen of string instruments in history. Reprint with new introduction by Stewart Pol ...

violin, an 1845 Gagliano violin, and an 1810 J.B. Ceruti half-size violin. Her former students perform in ensembles and orchestras throughout the country including the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

, the

Saint Louis Symphony The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra based in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1880 by Joseph Otten as the St. Louis Choral Society, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) is the second-oldest professional symphony orc ...

and others. In an interview she reveled in the success of her students and the fact that she continued to hear from them in later years. She died at the age of 95 in 2016. In regard to teaching Pardee said, "The composer gives us an indication of what he'd like. But the musician has to feel the phrasing so it goes over to the audience. That's a major part of making a musician."

References

External links

Notes by Karen Schwartz – accompanist to Miss Pardee
Archived
/small> * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pardee, Margaret American classical violinists American women violinists People from Valdosta, Georgia Musicians from Georgia (U.S. state) Juilliard School alumni Juilliard School faculty 1920 births 2016 deaths Women classical violinists 20th-century classical violinists 20th-century American women musicians 21st-century classical violinists 21st-century American women musicians Women music educators 20th-century American violinists 21st-century American violinists