Rita Wolfensberger (28 May 1928 – 22 February 2020 Bernhard Billeter

In the ''

Schweizer Musikzeitung The ''Schweizer Musikzeitung'' (SMZ) is a monthly (9 times a year) music magazine from Brunnen. It is published in German, French and sporadically in Italian and reaches a circulation of 19,484 copies and a reach of 24,000 readers.https://www.m ...

.'' 25 March 2020. ) was a Swiss pianist,

music educator Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do original ...

and

music critic ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...

Life

Born in

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; gsw, Schafuuse; french: Schaffhouse; it, Sciaffusa; rm, Schaffusa; en, Shaffhouse) is a list of towns in Switzerland, town with historic roots, a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in northern Switzerland, and the ...

, Wolfensberger studied piano with Elsa Burkhard at the

Zurich University of the Arts Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK, german: Zürcher Hochschule der Künste) has approximately 2,500 students, which makes it the largest arts university in Switzerland. The university was established in 2007, following the merger between Zurich' ...

. Afterwards, she completed the Diplôme de Virtuosité at the

École Normale de Musique de Paris The École Normale de Musique de Paris "Alfred Cortot" (ENMP) is a leading conservatoire located in Paris, Île-de-France, France. At the time of the school's foundation in 1919 by Auguste Mangeot, Alfred Cortot. The term ''école normale'' (Engl ...

and attended

master class A master class is a Class (education), class given to students of a particular Academic discipline, discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also science, painting, drama, games, or on any other occasion where skills are b ...

es at the

Accademia Musicale Chigiana The Accademia Musicale Chigiana (''English'': Chigiana Musical Academy) is a music institute in Siena, Italy. It was founded by Count Guido Chigi-Saracini in 1932 as an international centre for advanced musical studies. It organises Master Classe ...

in Siena. In addition, she studied piano with

Guido Agosti Guido Agosti (11 August 19012 June 1989) was an Italian pianist and piano teacher. Agosti was born in Forlì in 1901. He studied piano with Ferruccio Busoni, Bruno Mugellini and Filippo Ivaldi, earning his diploma at age 13. He studied counterp ...

and

Anna Hirzel-Langenhan Anna Hirzel-Langenhan (20 August 1874 – 15 December 1951) was a Swiss pianist and music educator. Life Born in Lachen, Hirzel-Langenhan studied at the Zurich University of the Arts and in Vienna with Theodor Leschetizky and Anna Jessipowa. ...

as well as

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 Barbara Vignanelli at the

Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia The Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia ( en, National Academy of St Cecilia) is one of the oldest musical institutions in the world, founded by the papal bull ''Ratione congruit'', issued by Sixtus V in 1585, which invoked two saints prom ...

in Rome. As a soloist Wolfensberger performed in Switzerland as well as in Italy and France. She played in the "Trio Motawo", Duo Wolfensberger (with her sister) and Trio Klemm. Wolfensberger was a reviewer at the ', the ''

Neue Zürcher Zeitung The ''Neue Zürcher Zeitung'' (''NZZ''; "New Journal of Zürich") is a Swiss, German-language daily newspaper, published by NZZ Mediengruppe in Zürich. The paper was founded in 1780. It was described as having a reputation as a high-quality ne ...

'' and the ''

Landbote ''Der Landbote'', commonly shortened to ''Landbote'', is a Swiss, German-language daily newspaper, published in Winterthur, Switzerland. History and profile ''Der Landbote'' was founded in 1836 in Winterthur as a liberal weekly paper of the so ...

''. She worked in the

Swiss Music Pedagogic Association The Swiss Music Pedagogic Association (SMPA) (in German ''Schweizerischer Musikpädagogischer Verband (SMPV)'', in French ''Société Suisse de Pédagogie Musicale (SSPM)'', in Italian ''Società Svizzera di Pedagogia Musicale (SSPM)'', in Romansh ' ...

(SMPV). From 1962 she was a member of the board of directors and from 1983 to 1987 president and head of auditing of the ''SMPV Schaffhausen''. From 1977 to 1993 she was also a member of the board of the ''SMPV Schweiz''. Simon Burr
''Rita Wolfensberger: A life for music.''
In "Schaffhauser Nachrichten, 18 June 2008. She was state expert for diploma examinations of the conservatories in Zurich, Winterthur, Bern and Schaffhausen. The forum for contemporary music ''(Musica Viva)'' was under her direction. Since 1961 she was also a member of

Zonta International Zonta International is an international service organization with the mission of advancing the status of women.Alan Axelrod, ''International Encyclopedia of Secret Societies and Fraternal Orders'', New York: Facts on File, Inc., 1997, p. 271. H ...

. Wolfensberger died in her native hometown at the age of 91.

Publications

* ''

Clara Haskil Clara Haskil (7 January 1895 – 7 December 1960) was a Romanian classical pianist, renowned as an interpreter of the classical and early romantic repertoire. She was particularly noted for her performances and recordings of Mozart. She was also ...

. Mit Beiträgen von

Pierre Fournier Pierre Léon Marie Fournier (24 June 19068 January 1986) was a French cellist who was called the "aristocrat of cellists" on account of his elegant musicianship and majestic sound. Biography He was born in Paris, the son of a French Army gen ...

Ferenc Fricsay Ferenc Fricsay (; 9 August 1914 – 20 February 1963) was a Hungarian conductor. From 1960 until his death, he was an Austrian citizen. Biography Fricsay was born in Budapest in 1914 and studied music under Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, E ...

Rafael Kubelík Rafael Jeroným Kubelík, KBE (29 June 1914 – 11 August 1996) was a Czech conductor and composer. Son of a well-known violinist, Jan Kubelík, he was trained in Prague, and made his debut with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of 1 ...

Igor Markevitch Igor Borisovich Markevitch (russian: Игорь Борисович Маркевич, ''Igor Borisovich Markevich'', uk, Ігор Борисович Маркевич, ''Ihor Borysovych Markevych''; 27 July 1912 – 7 March 1983) was a Russian- ...

, Peter Rybar. EA.''

Scherz Scherz is a former municipality in the district of Brugg in canton of Aargau in Switzerland. On 1 January 2018 the former municipality of Scherz merged into the municipality of Lupfig. Geography Scherz has an area, , of . Of this area, or 5 ...

, Bern 1961. * ''Clara Haskil. Mit Beiträgen von Pierre Fournier, Ferenc Fricsay,

Joseph Keilberth Joseph Keilberth (19 April 1908 – 20 July 1968) was a German conductor who specialised in opera. Career He started his career in the State Theatre of his native city, Karlsruhe. In 1940 he became director of the German Philharmonic Orches ...

, Rafael Kubelik, Igor Markevitch, Peter Rybar.'' Second, revised and expanded edition, Scherz, Bern 1962.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wolfensberger, Rita 1928 births 2020 deaths People from Schaffhausen École Normale de Musique de Paris alumni Swiss classical pianists Swiss women pianists Swiss music educators Swiss women music educators 20th-century Swiss educators 21st-century Swiss educators Swiss music critics Women music critics Women classical pianists Accademia Musicale Chigiana alumni Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia alumni

Life

Publications

Further reading

References

External links