Alma Stencel

Alma Stencel (June 28, 1888 – July 22, 1933) was an American pianist and musical prodigy.

Alma Stencel
Alma Stencel, from a 1902 publication
Born(1888-06-28)June 28, 1888
Colfax, Washington
DiedJuly 22, 1933(1933-07-22) (aged 45)
Scarsdale, New York
NationalityAmerican
Other namesAlma Stencel Weed, Alma Weed
OccupationPianist

Early life

Stencel was born in Colfax, Washington, and raised in San Francisco, the daughter of Sigmund Stencel and Martha Stencel.[1][2] She was a piano student of Hugo Mansfeldt,[3] Emil Sauer in Vienna, and Leopold Godowsky in Berlin.[2]

Career

Stencel was considered a child prodigy in San Francisco.[4][5] She studied in Vienna and Berlin in 1900 and 1901,[6][7] and made her London debut in 1902, at age 14, at St. James' Hall.[8]

In 1904 she toured in eastern Europe and Russia with Czech violinist Jan Kubelik.[1][9][10] She played for Czar Nicholas II, Emperor Franz Josef, King Edward VII, and WIlliam Howard Taft during her concert career.[2]

Personal life

Stencel married mining geologist Walter Harvey Weed in 1914.[11] Their wedding took place a few months after Weed's first wife, suffragist Helena Hill, divorced him on grounds of infidelity.[12] They had a daughter, Almita Patricia Weed, born 1919.[13] Alma Stencel Weed died in 1933, in Scarsdale, New York, aged 45 years.[14][2]

References
  1. "A San Francisco Girl's Success Abroad". Town Talk. 12: 28. January 16, 1904.
  2. "Mrs. Alma Weed, Once Pianist, Dead". The New York Times. July 25, 1933. p. 19 – via ProQuest.
  3. Christiane Tewinkel, A Californian Liszt Legacy: The Pianist Hugo Mansfeldt and his Pupils Alma Stencel and Else Cellarius (Studiopunkt-Verlag 2016). ISBN 978-3895641770
  4. "Mere Child Startles World of Music with her Recitals". San Francisco Call. October 27, 1901. p. 27. Retrieved December 2, 2019 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  5. "Alma Stencel, Whose Talent Has Been Applauded". San Francisco Call. April 14, 1900. p. 9. Retrieved December 2, 2019 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  6. "Alma Stencel Charms Europe". Oakland Tribune. April 8, 1901. p. 5. Retrieved December 2, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Fair Californian Plays in Berlin". The San Francisco Examiner. October 27, 1901. p. 3. Retrieved December 2, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Alma Stencel's London Debut" Musical Courier 44(May 28, 1902): 31.
  9. "Vienna Praises Miss Stencel". The New York Times. January 8, 1904. p. 7 – via ProQuest.
  10. "Alma Stencel Again Appears with Kubelik". San Francisco Chronicle. January 10, 1904. p. 29. Retrieved December 2, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. Leonard, John William; Mohr, William Frederick; Knox, Herman Warren; Holmes, Frank R.; Downs, Winfield Scott (1918). Who's who in New York (City and State). Who's Who Publications, Incorporated. p. 1128.
  12. "Houghton Man is Accused by Wife". Detroit Free Press. January 8, 1914. p. 6. Retrieved December 2, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. A History of the Class of Eighteen Hundred and Eighty-three of Columbia College: Arts and Mines, Comprising the Years 1908-1923. Eilert Printing Company. 1923. p. 125.
  14. "Alma Stencel (1887-1933)". BnF Data. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
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