Sadah Shuchari (December 11, 1906 – 20 May 2001), or Sadah Schuhari, in Russian Сада Шухари, was an American violinist and music educator. She was concertmaster of the Vermont Philharmonic Orchestra from 1964 to 1979.

Early life

Sadah Shuchari was born Sadah "Sadie" Schwartz in

Enfield, Connecticut Enfield is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, first settled by John and Robert Pease of Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony. The population was 42,141 at the 2020 census. It is bordered by Longmeadow, Massachusetts, and East Long ...

, the daughter of Charles Schwartz and Dora Gerber Schwartz. Her parents were Jewish immigrants from

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

; her father sold insurance. Shuchari attended 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 elit ...

, and studied violin with

Leopold Auer Leopold von Auer ( hu, Auer Lipót; June 7, 1845July 15, 1930) was a Hungarian violinist, academic, conductor, composer, and instructor. Many of his students went on to become prominent concert performers and teachers. Early life and career Au ...

and

Paul Kochanski Paul Kochanski (born Paweł Kochański; 30 August 1887 – 12 January 1934) was a Polish violinist, composer and arranger active in the United States. Training and early career Paweł Kochański was born in Odesa to Polish-Jewish parent ...

. She also studied with composer

Rubin Goldmark Rubin Goldmark (August 15, 1872 – March 6, 1936) was an American composer, pianist, and educator.Perlis, ''New Grove Dictionary of American Music'', v. II, p. 239 Although in his time he was an often-performed American nationalist composer, hi ...

George Enescu George Enescu (; – 4 May 1955), known in France as Georges Enesco, was a Romanian composer, violinist, conductor and teacher. Regarded as one of the greatest musicians in Romanian history, Enescu is featured on the Romanian five lei. Biogr ...

, and

Felix Salmond Felix Adrian Norman Salmond (19 November 188820 February 1952) was an English cellist and cello teacher who achieved success in the UK and the US. Early life and career Salmond was born to a family of professional musicians. His father Norman S ...

. Later in life, she earned a bachelor's degree from the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is among the oldest universities in the United ...

in 1962, and a master's degree from

Teachers College, Columbia University Teachers College, Columbia University (TC), is the graduate school of education, health, and psychology of Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Founded in 1887, it has served as one of the official faculties and ...

in 1964.

Career

Shuchari won the Naumburg Scholarship in 1927, and the Schubert Memorial Prize in 1928. She performed at New York's Town Hall venue with pianist Isabelle Yalkovsky Byman, in a concert for the

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wo ...

centenary in 1928. She played again with Yalkovsky at Juilliard in 1931. Shuchari made recordings for Victor in 1928 and 1934. She performed on radio programs. She appeared as a soloist in recitals and with symphonies in New York,

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 ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, Los Angeles,

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...

, Toronto, Baltimore, Harrisburg, Fort Worth, and El Paso in the 1930s. She joined the faculty of Vermont Junior College in 1945, as a professor of music. She continued performing in Vermont into her later years, and was concertmaster of the Vermont Philharmonic Orchestra from 1964 to 1979. Her last public performance came in 1983, at the Vermont Philharmonic's 25th anniversary concert.

Personal life

Shuchari married insurance agent Wallace Parker Start in 1937. They had two children, Frank and Meda, before they divorced in 1954. In 1966 she remarried, to Alex Colodny. Her second husband died in 1985. She died in 2001 in St. Albans Town, Vermont, aged 94 years.

References

External links

Autographed publicity portrait of Sadah Shuchari
(February 1930), signed to

Bessie Bartlett Frankel Bessie Bartlett Frankel (April 29, 1884 – September 15, 1959) was an American concert singer, composer, and clubwoman, and the first president of the California Federation of Music Clubs. Early life Bessie Herbert Bartlett was born in Los Angele ...

; in the Bessie Bartlett Frankel Collection, Ella Strong Denison Library; Claremont Colleges Digital Library * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shuchari, Sadah 1906 births 2001 deaths People from Enfield, Connecticut American violinists Women violinists Juilliard School alumni Vermont College of Fine Arts faculty University of Vermont alumni Teachers College, Columbia University alumni American people of Romanian-Jewish descent