Vahdah Olcott-Bickford (October 17, 1885 – May 18, 1980) was an American astrologer and guitarist, known as "the Grand Lady of the Guitar."

Early life

She was born in

Norwalk, Ohio Norwalk is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Huron County, Ohio, Huron County. The population was 17,012 at the United States Census 2010, 2010 census. The city is the center of the Norwalk, OH μSA, Norwalk Micropolitan Stat ...

as "Ethel Lucretia Olcott" and died as "Vahdah Olcott-Bickford Revere", having married twice. Her family moved to Socorro and then

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

when she was an infant. She started guitar lessons at the age of eight and then, by chance, met the classical guitarist George C. Lindsay and played for him when she was still just nine. This was the start of a lifelong friendship in which Lindsay first tutored her and then introduced her to the famous guitarist,

Manuel Y. Ferrer Manuel Y. Ferrer was regarded during his lifetime as one of the United States' finest virtuoso guitarists. He was born in San Antonio, Baja California Sur (Mexico) to Catalan parents from Spain. As a young man he left his native town, travelling b ...

. Ferrer invited her to stay with his family in

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

where he gave her daily lessons for a year until he died suddenly in 1904. She then returned to her family and published her first major work, ''Theme for variations on

Nel cor più non mi sento "" is a duet from Giovanni Paisiello's 1788 opera ''L'amor contrastato, ossia La molinara'', usually known as ' (The Miller-Woman). The duet is sung twice in the opera's second act, first by the miller-woman Rachelina ( soprano) and Calloandro (ten ...

''.

Career

Olcott-Bickford moved to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

in 1911 where she began performing and teaching. Among her early students were

Cornelius Vanderbilt Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed "the Commodore", was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into lead ...

and

Bernard Baruch Bernard Mannes Baruch (August 19, 1870 – June 20, 1965) was an American financier and statesman. After amassing a fortune on the New York Stock Exchange, he impressed President Woodrow Wilson by managing the nation's economic mobilization in ...

. She met

Evangeline Adams Evangeline Smith Adams (February 8, 1868 – November 10, 1932) was an American astrologer based in New York City. She ran a thriving astrological consulting business, gained widespread notability for successfully defending her astrological prac ...

who helped her choose her stage name, Vahdah. In 1919 she became the first woman to make a guitar recording. In 1923, she moved back to

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

and was instrumental in founding the American Guitar Society in

. She taught at the Zoellner Conservatory in Los Angeles, wrote articles espousing the beauty of the guitar, and won music competitions.

Ron Purcell Ronald Charles Purcell (October 5, 1932 – September 7, 2011) was an American guitarist, with degrees from the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music and California State University, Northridge. He was Professor Emeritus of the Department of Musi ...

, late professor of music at

California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge) is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. With a total enrollment of 38,551 students (as of Fall 2021), it has the second largest un ...

, was her student from 1955 when he studied at the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music and Arts. He and other pupils were taught guitar playing in the music room at her house in the

Hollywood Hills The Hollywood Hills are a residential neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Geography The Hollywood Hills straddle the Cahuenga Pass within the Santa Monica Mountains. The neighborhood touches Studio City, Univer ...

where she taught a technique of playing with the right hand using the pads of the fingers to pluck the strings, rather than the fingernails.

Legacy

She amassed a large library of music, journals and correspondence about the guitar and other similar instruments. Her house in the Hollywood Hills was damaged by the

1971 San Fernando earthquake The 1971 San Fernando earthquake (also known as the 1971 Sylmar earthquake) occurred in the early morning of February 9 in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in southern California. The unanticipated thrust earthquake had a magnitude o ...

and this threatened the collection. The house was condemned and moving the huge collection then took 15 men over 17 days. On her death, the collection was bequeathed to

where it formed the foundation of its International Guitar Research Archive, now held in Special Collections and Archives in the University Library.

Death

She died in Los Angeles in 1980 at the age of 94.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olcott-Bickford, Vahdah 1885 births 1980 deaths American astrologers 20th-century astrologers American classical guitarists Guitarists from Ohio People from Norwalk, Ohio Women classical guitarists 20th-century women musicians Classical musicians from Ohio 20th-century guitarists 20th-century classical musicians