Alma Stencel
{{Short description|American pianist and musical prodigy (1888–1933)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Alma Stencel
| image = AlmaStencel1902.jpg
| alt = a young white girl with long hair, leaning on a small upright piano, wearing a white frock.
| caption = Alma Stencel, from a 1902 publication
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1888|06|28}}
| birth_place = Colfax, Washington
| death_date = {{death date and age|1933|07|22|1888|06|28}}
| death_place = Scarsdale, New York
| nationality = American
| other_names = Alma Stencel Weed, Alma Weed
| occupation = Pianist
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
}}
Alma Stencel (June 28, 1888 – July 22, 1933) was an American pianist and musical prodigy.
Early life
Stencel was born in Colfax, Washington, and raised in San Francisco, the daughter of Sigmund Stencel and Martha Stencel.{{Cite journal|date=January 16, 1904|title=A San Francisco Girl's Success Abroad|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jRBIAQAAMAAJ&dq=Alma+Stencel&pg=RA22-PA28|journal=Town Talk|volume=12|pages=28}}{{Cite news|title=Mrs. Alma Weed, Once Pianist, Dead|date=July 25, 1933|work=The New York Times|page=19|via=ProQuest}} She was a piano student of Hugo Mansfeldt,Christiane Tewinkel, A Californian Liszt Legacy: The Pianist Hugo Mansfeldt and his Pupils Alma Stencel and Else Cellarius (Studiopunkt-Verlag 2016). {{ISBN|978-3895641770|}} Emil Sauer in Vienna, and Leopold Godowsky in Berlin.
Career
Stencel was considered a child prodigy in San Francisco.{{Cite news|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC19011027.2.161&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1|title=Mere Child Startles World of Music with her Recitals|date=October 27, 1901|work=San Francisco Call|access-date=December 2, 2019|page=27|via=California Digital Newspaper Collection}}{{Cite news|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SFC19000414.2.102&srpos=3&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-Alma+Stencel-------1|title=Alma Stencel, Whose Talent Has Been Applauded|date=April 14, 1900|work=San Francisco Call|access-date=December 2, 2019|page=9|via=California Digital Newspaper Collection}} She studied in Vienna and Berlin in 1900 and 1901,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/39961777/alma_stencel_1901/|title=Alma Stencel Charms Europe|date=April 8, 1901|work=Oakland Tribune|access-date=December 2, 2019|page=5|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/39962327/alma_stencel_1901/|title=Fair Californian Plays in Berlin|date=October 27, 1901|work=The San Francisco Examiner|access-date=December 2, 2019|page=3|via=Newspapers.com}} and made her London debut in 1902, at age 14, at St. James' Hall.[https://books.google.com/books?id=bJBCAQAAMAAJ&dq=Alma+Stencel&pg=PA86-IA5 "Alma Stencel's London Debut"] Musical Courier 44(May 28, 1902): 31.
In 1904 she toured in eastern Europe and Russia with Czech violinist Jan Kubelik.{{Cite news|title=Vienna Praises Miss Stencel|date=January 8, 1904|work=The New York Times|page=7|via=ProQuest}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/39962385/alma_sencel_1904/|title=Alma Stencel Again Appears with Kubelik|date=January 10, 1904|work=San Francisco Chronicle|access-date=December 2, 2019|page=29|via=Newspapers.com}} She played for Czar Nicholas II, Emperor Franz Josef, King Edward VII, and William Howard Taft during her concert career.
Personal life
Stencel married mining geologist Walter Harvey Weed in 1914.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o0sWAAAAYAAJ&dq=Alma+Stencel+Weed&pg=PA1128|title=Who's who in New York (City and State)|last1=Leonard|first1=John William|last2=Mohr|first2=William Frederick|last3=Knox|first3=Herman Warren|last4=Holmes|first4=Frank R.|last5=Downs|first5=Winfield Scott|date=1918|publisher=Who's Who Publications, Incorporated|pages=1128|language=en}} Their wedding took place a few months after Weed's first wife, suffragist Helena Hill, divorced him on grounds of infidelity.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/39962803/helena_hill_weedwalter_harvey_weed_1914/|title=Houghton Man is Accused by Wife|date=January 8, 1914|work=Detroit Free Press|access-date=December 2, 2019|page=6|via=Newspapers.com}} They had a daughter, Almita Patricia Weed, born 1919.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wjVOAAAAYAAJ&dq=Alma+Stencel+Weed&pg=PA125|title=A History of the Class of Eighteen Hundred and Eighty-three of Columbia College: Arts and Mines, Comprising the Years 1908-1923|date=1923|publisher=Eilert Printing Company|pages=125}} Alma Stencel Weed died in 1933, in Scarsdale, New York, aged 45 years.{{Cite web|url=https://data.bnf.fr/fr/17769426/alma_stencel/|title=Alma Stencel (1887-1933)|website=BnF Data|access-date=2019-12-02}}
References
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External links
- {{Find a Grave|id=41289615|name=}}
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