Selma Epstein (August 14, 1927 – November 21, 2014) was an American concert pianist, teacher, and champion of contemporary music by women and African Americans.

Biography

Born August 14, 1927 in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

to Tillie (Schneider) and Samuel Schechtman, Selma excelled in mathematics at school, but pursued her love of music.

Career

She performed at 15 at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

and went on to attend 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 ...

in New York City. There she became the youngest student of famed Ukrainian-born pianist

Rosina Lhévinne Rosina Lhévinne (née Bessie; March 29, 1880 – November 9, 1976) was a Russian pianist and famed pedagogue born in Kyiv, Russian Empire. Early life, education and family Rosina Bessie was the younger of two daughters of Maria (née Katz) and ...

. Selma moved on to gain the D. Hendrick Ezerman Foundation Scholarship at the

Philadelphia Conservatory of Music Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since 1 ...

in Philadelphia and studied with

Eduard Steuermann Eduard Steuermann (June 18, 1892 in Sambor, Austro-Hungarian Empire – November 11, 1964 in New York City) was an Austrian (and later American) pianist and composer. Steuermann studied piano with Vilém Kurz at the Lemberg Conservatory and Fer ...

there. Selma married fellow concert pianist Joseph Epstein in 1950. In the 1960’s she was invited to be the first pianist to present a series of all contemporary pieces in the Far East and founded the Baltimore Washington Contemporary Music Group. In addition to her performances and teaching duties, she gave private lessons. As a concert pianist, Selma Epstein toured Europe and North America many times in addition to "two very successful tours in Australia. During her second tour, she was invited to teach at the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music. From 1972 to 1975 Epstein was a resident recording artist for the

Australian Broadcasting Company The Australian Broadcasting Company Pty. Ltd. was a company founded in Melbourne in 1924 with a capital of £A 100,000 by a consortium of entertainment interests, notably Farmer & Company, J. C. Williamson Limited and J. & N. Tait to fou ...

, where she recorded several unpublished works of Australian-born composer

Percy Grainger Percy Aldridge Grainger (born George Percy Grainger; 8 July 188220 February 1961) was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist who lived in the United States from 1914 and became an American citizen in 1918. In the course of a long an ...

." Hailed as a pioneer and champion of contemporary music, she was applauded for her robust efforts to promote black and female composers from the 20th century. In all, she toured the world for many decades to bring attention to that music.

Later years

A visual artist, Epstein liked to draw using charcoal, pastels and paints. She died at 87 on November 21, 2014 at her home in

Pflugerville, Texas Pflugerville ( ) is a city in Travis County, Texas, United States, with a small portion in Williamson County. The population was 65,191 at the 2020 census. Pflugerville is a suburb of Austin and part of the Austin–Round Rock–San Mar ...

, and was buried in Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery,

Killeen, Texas Killeen is a city in Bell County, Texas, United States. According to the 2020 census, its population was 153,095, making it the 19th-most populous city in Texas and the largest of the three principal cities of Bell County. It is the principal city ...

Selected publications

* Epstein, S. (1990). ''A Guide for Researching Music by Women Composers''. Chromattica USA. (book) * Epstein, S. (1994). Composer Interview:

Ruth Schonthal Ruth (or its variants) may refer to: Places France * Château de Ruthie, castle in the commune of Aussurucq in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département of France Switzerland * Ruth, a hamlet in Cologny United States * Ruth, Alabama * Ruth, Ar ...

, ''Journal of the IAWM'' (

International Alliance for Women in Music The International Alliance for Women in Music (IAWM) is an international membership organization of women and men dedicated to fostering and encouraging the activities of women in music, particularly in the areas of musical activity, such as compos ...

), February 1994, pp. 5–8.

References

External links