Martha Baird Rockefeller (March 15, 1895 – January 24, 1971) was an American pianist, philanthropist and longtime advocate for the arts.
[â]
Martha Baird Rockefeller, 1895—1971
in “The Rockefellers.†Sleepy Hollow, New York: The Rockefeller Archive Center, retrieved online June 11, 2018.
Formative years
Born in
Madera County, California
Madera County (), officially the County of Madera, is a county at the geographic center of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 156,255. The county seat is Madera.
Madera County comprises the Madera, CA Metr ...
in the community of
Madera on March 15, 1895, Martha Baird Rockefeller was the second oldest child of merchant William F. Baird (1861—1916) and Almina Abby (Smith) Baird (1862—1903), a piano and organ instructor in the
University of Southern California
, mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it"
, religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist
, established =
, accreditation = WSCUC
, type = Private research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $8.1 ...
's College of Music.
[
Her mother, who was known to family and friends as "Mina," was her first piano instructor; her first classroom experiences were undertaken at the Westside School on what is, today, the grounds of Madera High School.][Coate, Bill. The Madera Tribune.]
At the age of eight, her world was transformed dramatically by two major events – her first public performance as a pianist in June 1903 and the untimely death of her mother later that same year. During the recital, which was held at the university where her mother taught, she performed "In the Gypsies' Camp.[
Following her mother's death at the age of 43,][Almina Abbie Smith Baird, et al. Find A Grave.] she endured further upheaval when her banker father made the decision to leave Madera behind following a failed land deal which made headlines statewide. After relocating with her father to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
, she then continued to study the piano while completing her high school education at the Blairsville School for Girls in Indiana County, Pennsylvania and undergraduate training at Occidental College in Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ãngeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
.[
By 1915, she was enrolled in the ]New England Conservatory of Music
The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on H ...
in Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> mÉ™hswatʃəwiËsÉ™t.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">mÉ™hswatʃəwiËsÉ™t">Massachusett writing systems">mÉ™hswatʃəwiËsÉ™t'' En ...
where, in 1917, she placed first in the conservatory's annual piano competition and then graduated summa cum laude from the conservatory's soloist program.[â]
Mrs. John D. Rockefeller Dies at 75
†New York, New York: ''The New York Times'', January 25, 1971.
That same year (1917), she made her debut in recital at Jordan Hall in Boston on November 17, garnering solid reviews from the arts sections of major newspapers, including ''The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
''. She then pursued further advanced studies in Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
with the legendary pianist Artur Schnabel
Artur Schnabel (17 April 1882 – 15 August 1951) was an Austrian-American classical pianist, composer and pedagogue. Schnabel was known for his intellectual seriousness as a musician, avoiding pure technical bravura. Among the 20th centur ...
.[
By 1918, she was touring with Australian soprano ]Nellie Melba
Dame Nellie Melba (born Helen Porter Mitchell; 19 May 186123 February 1931) was an Australian operatic dramatic coloratura soprano (three octaves). She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and the early 20th centur ...
. Three years after her Boston success, Martha Baird performed before New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
audiences for the first time, appearing at the Princess Theater on March 22, 1920. On August 4 of that same year (1920), she wed importer Adrian van Laar, but the union was not a lasting one; the couple divorced in 1925.[
It was during this time, however, that her performing career truly began to take off, fueled by an intense touring schedule across Europe and the United States. According to ''The New York Times'', "she made her London debut at Royal Albert Hall with ]Sir Thomas Beecham
Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, CH (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras. He was also closely associated with th ...
and the London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orc ...
" in 1926, and then also "appeared with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the late Serge Koussevitzky."[
Her second marriage — to lawyer Arthur Moulton Allen — was a far more successful one. They remained a couple from the time of their wedding day (May 20, 1930) until her husband's death on May 6, 1950. Although she concertized periodically during this phase of her life, her greatest contributions to the arts came in the form of advocacy and philanthropy. In addition to her longtime service as the president of the Providence Community Concert Association in ]Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...
, she also was actively involved in fostering the outreach by the Providence Symphony Orchestra to area youth through concerts and other initiatives, and served on the board of trustees for her alma mater, the New England Conservatory.[
Her third and final marriage – to ]John D. Rockefeller Jr.
John Davison Rockefeller Jr. (January 29, 1874 – May 11, 1960) was an American financier and philanthropist, and the only son of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller.
He was involved in the development of the vast office complex in M ...
– enabled her to take her philanthropic work to even greater heights. On the day of her marriage (August 15, 1951) to the longtime friend of her late husband and fellow widower, she was given a sizeable trust fund by Rockefeller, which she used to establish the Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund for Music in 1957. When her third husband died in 1960, she then redirected a significant portion of her $48 million inheritance to that fund. In operation until 1982, the Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund for Music provided critical scholarship and grant support to solo artists and ensembles for a quarter of a century before it was dissolved.[
Among her beneficiaries, according to ''The New York Times'', were the: “Boston Symphony Orchestra, the ]City Center of Music and Drama
New York City Center (previously known as the Mecca Temple, City Center of Music and Drama,. The name "City Center for Music and Drama Inc." is the organizational parent of the New York City Ballet and, until 2011, the New York City Opera. and th ...
, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Manhattan School of Music, the Metropolitan Opera Association
The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...
, the Symphony of the New World, and the New England Conservatory of Music. In the 1969â€1970 season she made gifts for the City Center's new production of ‘Rigoletto
''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had co ...
’ and for the Metropolitan's new mountings of ‘Norma’ and ‘Der Freischütz
' ( J. 277, Op. 77 ''The Marksman'' or ''The Freeshooter'') is a German opera with spoken dialogue in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Friedrich Kind, based on a story by Johann August Apel and Friedrich Laun from their 18 ...
.’â€[
A governor of the American Red Cross, she also "supported organizations of special interest to her late husband," including "]Colonial Williamsburg
Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history museum and private foundation presenting a part of the historic district in the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation has 7300 employees at this location a ...
, Harvard Divinity School
Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the academic study of religion or for leadership roles in religion, gov ...
, the Riverside Church
Riverside Church is an interdenominational church in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, on the block bounded by Riverside Drive, Claremont Avenue, 120th Street and 122nd Street near Columbia University's Mornin ...
, Brown University, the Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
, the National Council of Churches
The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, usually identified as the National Council of Churches (NCC), is the largest ecumenical body in the United States. NCC is an ecumenical partnership of 38 Christian faith groups in the Un ...
and the Sealantic Fund."[
]
Death and interment
Martha Baird Rockefeller died from a coronary occlusion at the age of 75 on January 24, 1971, at her home at 740 Park Avenue
740 Park Avenue is a luxury cooperative apartment building on the west side of Park Avenue between East 71st and 72nd Streets in the Lenox Hill neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was described in ''Business Insider'' in 2011 as "a l ...
in Manhattan, New York
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
. Following private funeral services, she was laid to rest at the Rockefeller Family Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, Westchester County, New York
Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population ...
.[
Although she had no children, she was survived by her stepchildren – ]David Rockefeller
David Rockefeller (June 12, 1915 – March 20, 2017) was an American investment banker who served as chairman and chief executive of Chase Manhattan Corporation. He was the oldest living member of the third generation of the Rockefeller family, ...
, Abby (Rockefeller) Mauzé, John D. Rockefeller, III, Laurance S. Rockefeller and Winthrop Rockefeller
Winthrop Rockefeller (May 1, 1912 – February 22, 1973) was an American politician and philanthropist. Rockefeller was the fourth son and fifth child of American financer John D. Rockefeller Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. He is one of the ...
.[
]
References
External links
* Gross, Michael. '' 740 Park: The Story of the World's Richest Apartment Building''. New York, New York: Broadway Books (an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, LLC, a Penguin Random House Company), 2005.
* Hillcrest
Mrs. Martha Baird Rockefeller Country House, Pocantico, New York, 1962
The Architecture of Mott B. Schmidt, retrieved online June 11, 2018.
Martha Baird Rockefeller Papers
Sleepy Hollow, New York: Rockefeller Archive Center, retrieved online July 15, 2022.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rockefeller, Martha Baird
20th-century American women pianists
20th-century classical pianists
20th-century American pianists
American classical pianists
American women classical pianists
American women philanthropists
Philanthropists from California
1895 births
1971 deaths
People from Madera, California
Rockefeller family