Helena Stone Torgerson
{{Short description|American harpist and composer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Helena Stone Torgerson
| image = HelenaStoneTorgerson1918.tif
| alt = A white woman wearing glasses, her hair in an updo, seated at a harp.
| caption = Helena Stone Torgerson, from a 1918 publication
| birth_name = Helena Stone
| birth_date = {{Birth year|1878}}
| birth_place = Grand Rapids, Michigan
| death_date = {{Death date and given age|1941|09|09|63}}
| death_place = Rapid City, South Dakota
| nationality = American
| other_names =
| occupation = Harpist, composer
| years_active = 1896–1941
| known_for =
| notable_works =
}}
Helena Stone Torgerson (1878 – September 9, 1941) was an American harpist and composer of harp music, based in Chicago.
Early life
Helena Stone was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the daughter of Frank A. Stone and India E. Colestock Stone. Her father was a manufacturer.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IOcBAAAAMAAJ&q=India+E.+Colestock&pg=PA361|title=Grand Rapids and # County, Michigan: History and Account of Their Progress from First Settlement to the Present Time|last=Fisher|first=Ernest B.|date=1918|publisher=R.O. Law Company|pages=361}}
Career
Helena Stone played harp at public events from her teenaged years.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40241509/helena_stone_1896/|title=Concert at St. James|date=June 12, 1896|work=The Inter Ocean|access-date=December 7, 2019|page=4|via=Newspapers.com}} In 1899 she replaced Edmund Schuecker as harpist of the Bruno Steindel Concert Company.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40241672/helena_stone_1899/|title=Treat for Musicians|date=May 6, 1899|work=The Topeka State Journal|access-date=December 7, 2019|page=4|via=Newspapers.com}} She was listed among the best-known women harpists in the United States in 1908,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40239868/helena_stone_1908/|title=The New Vogue of the Harp|date=May 24, 1908|work=The Oregon Daily Journal|access-date=December 7, 2019|page=36|via=Newspapers.com}} and in 1926 Torgerson was described as "Chicago's best woman harpist."{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40233871/helena_stone_torgerson_1926/|title=Woman Harpist to Give Recital at Club Meeting|date=February 2, 1926|work=Kenosha News|access-date=December 7, 2019|page=4|via=Newspapers.com}}
Torgerson performed as a solo harpist and in ensemble,[https://books.google.com/books?id=lG9FAQAAMAAJ&q=Torgerson&pg=RA1-PA97 "The Englewood Sunday Evening Club"] Music News (April 5, 1918): 17. and sometimes played her own compositions.{{Cite journal|last=Williams|first=Mary Carver|date=March 19, 1920|title=Important Event at the Blackstone|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SndFAQAAMAAJ&q=Helena+Stone+Torgerson&pg=RA11-PA35|journal=Music News|volume=12|pages=35}} She also gave talks about harp music and the history of the instrument.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40238144/helena_stone_torgerson_1926/|title=Harpist Gives Unique Program at Woman's Club|date=February 4, 1926|work=Kenosha News|access-date=December 7, 2019|page=4|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/entertainment-clipping-nov-22-1913-1462533/|title=History of the Harp|date=November 22, 1913|work=Oak Park Oak Leaves|access-date=December 7, 2019|page=30|via=NewspaperArchive.com}} She had a custom-made concert harp, "built on larger scale than is commonly used", for "bigness and resonance of the tone".{{Cite journal|date=December 12, 1913|title=Mrs. Torgerson at Grand Rapids|url=https://archive.org/details/musicnews52watt|journal=Music News|pages=[https://archive.org/details/musicnews52watt/page/19 19]}} "Mrs. Torgerson plays the harp in an altogether superior way," commented one writer in 1913, adding that "besides possessing transcendent technic for the instrument, she is a thorough musician and has abundant good taste in interpretation."{{Cite journal|date=November 28, 1913|title=Men's Fall Festival Chorus|url=https://archive.org/details/musicnews52watt|journal=Music News|pages=[https://archive.org/details/musicnews52watt/page/8 8]}}
Torgerson also taught harp and composed harp music. She studied composition with Adolf Weidig in Chicago.{{Cite journal|date=April 29, 1921|title=Recital by Adolf Weidig's Composition Class|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_WdFAQAAMAAJ&q=Helena+Stone+Torgerson+born&pg=RA2-PA51|journal=Music News|volume=13|pages=16c}} She dedicated her composition "The Squirrel" (1915) to "my little son".{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/squirrelharpsolo00torg2|title=The squirrel. Harp solo ..|last=Torgerson|first=Helena Stone|date=1915|publisher=[New York, International Music Pub. Co.]|others=Harold B. Lee Library}} Torgerson published Harp Music, a collection of harp pieces organized for teaching purposes.{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/harpmusicdigestc01torg|title=Harp music; a digest classified alphabetically and in grades according to degrees of difficulty|last=Torgerson|first=Helena Stone|date=1916|publisher=Chicago, Lyon & Healy|others=Harold B. Lee Library}}
Personal life
Helena Stone Torgerson married Lloyd R. Torgerson and had a son, Frank Stone Torgerson. She died from a stroke in 1941, aged 63 years, in Rapid City, South Dakota, while touring.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40234131/rapid_city_journal/|title=Chicago Woman Succumbs Here|date=September 10, 1941|work=Rapid City Journal|access-date=December 7, 2019|page=2|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40234295/obituary_for_helena_stone_torgerson/|title=Mrs. Helena Stone Torgerson|date=September 12, 1941|work=Chicago Tribune|access-date=December 7, 2019|page=18|via=Newspapers.com}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- Helena Stone Torgerson scores at IMSLP Petrucci Music Library
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Category:American women harpists