Viola Edna Beck Van Katwijk (26 February 1894 – 25 December 1980) was an American composer and pianist. Her music was published under the names "Viola Beck" and "Viola Van Katwijk." Van Katwijk was born in Denison, Texas, to German immigrants Mina Frank and Max Oswald Beck. She and her sister Irma studied piano in Berlin with

Richard Burmeister Richard Burmeister (1860 in Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg – 1944) was a German-American composer and pianist active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Biography Burmeister studied with Franz Liszt (1881–84). He made concert tours ...

. Van Katwijk also studied piano and composition with

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 ...

. Van Katwijk made her debut as a solo pianist with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in 1914. With her brother Curt, a violinist, she toured as part of the Beck-Allen Trio until her marriage to

Paul van Katwijk Paul van Katwijk (December 7, 1885–December 11, 1974) was a Dutch-American pianist, conductor, composer, and music educator. He was an important figure in the classical music culture of Dallas, Texas, for much of the 20th century. He serv ...

on July 15, 1922. She joined the piano faculty at

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

, where Paul was the dean of the School of Music, and taught there from 1922 until her retirement in 1955. She and her husband also toured as duo pianists. Van Katwijk composed piano and vocal music. She won the national

Mu Phi Epsilon Mu Phi Epsilon () is a co-ed international professional fraternity, professional music fraternity. It has over 75,000 members in 227 collegiate chapters and 113 Alumnus/a, alumni chapters in the US and abroad. History Mu Phi Epsilon was founde ...

composition contest in 1920 and 1930. She also won two first prizes and one second prize in the San Antonio Club piano composition contest. She was a charter member of the Dallas Music Teachers Association and of the Mu Chi Chapter of the Mu Phi Epsilon music fraternity. The Paul and Viola van Katwijk Collection is archived at Southern Methodist University. It includes over 100 letters and manuscripts from well-known composers such as Debussy, Mahler, Rachmaninoff and Rossini. Three manuscripts of Van Katwijk's compositions are archived at the Texas Woman's University Library in Denton, Texas. Van Katwijk's compositions include:

Piano

*''Dusk on a Texas Prairie'' *''Gamelan'' *''Jester''

Vocal

*"My Terrace" *"Winter Valley"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Katwijk, Viola American women composers 1894 births American pianists 1980 deaths 20th-century American women