Gwendolyn Koldofsky

Gwendolyn Koldofsky (November 1, 1906 – November 12, 1998) was a Canadian piano accompanist and music educator.

She was born Gwendolyn Williams in Bowmanville, Ontario and studied piano with Viggo Kihl in Toronto, with Tobias Matthay in London and with Marguerite Hasselmans in Paris. She also studied accompanying in London with Harold Craxton. In 1943, she married Adolph Koldofsky, a violinist. Koldofsky lived in Toronto until 1944, first moving to Vancouver and then to Los Angeles in 1945. She created the first Department of Accompanying at the music school at the University of Southern California in 1947, teaching accompanying chamber music and song literature.[1] She also gave master vocal classes for singers and taught accompanying at other North American music schools and universities.[2] in 1951 Koldofsky founded the annual Koldofsky Fellowship in Accompanying scholarship at USC music school to commemorate her husband, who had died in the same year.[3] Koldofsky was director of vocal accompanying at the Music Academy of the West from 1951 to 1989.[4]

She was accompanist for Lotte Lehmann, Rose Bampton, Jeanne Dusseau, Herta Glaz, Jan Peerce, Hermann Prey, Martial Singher and Marilyn Horne.[2] Horne, Martin Katz and Carol Neblett were students of Koldofsky.[4]

Koldofsky retired from teaching in 1990 and moved to Santa Barbara in 1991. She died there at the age of 92.[2]

The annual Marilyn Horne Song Competition is presented in Kodolfsky's memory since 1997.[1][5] Marilyn Horne recalls Kodofsky as “Teacher, mentor, accompanist, and my dear friend.”

In 2012, the University of Toronto established the Gwendolyn Williams Koldofsky Prize in Accompanying. The University of Southern California offers a Gwendolyn and Adolph Koldofsky Memorial Scholarship.[2]