Jeannette Durno
{{Short description|Canadian-born American pianist}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jeannette Durno
| image = JeannetteDurno1908.jpg
| alt = A white woman with her dark hair in an updo, wearing a dress with a low neckline that exposes her shoulders. She is looking downward.
| caption = Jeannette Durno, from a 1908 publication
| birth_name = Jeannette St. John
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1876|07|12}}
| birth_place = Walkerton, Ontario
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1963|09|05|1876|07|12}}
| death_place = Los Angeles, California
| nationality = Canadian, American
| other_names = Jeannette Durno-Collins (during her marriage)
| occupation = Pianist
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
}}
Jeannette Durno (July 12, 1876 – September 5, 1963) was a Canadian-born American pianist.
Early life
Jeannette St. John was born in Walkerton, Ontario, the daughter of William Brethour St. John and Margaret Legge St. John. She was adopted by an aunt and uncle as a little girl, and raised in Rockford, Illinois with the surname Durno. She attended Rockford College.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40316003/jeannette_durno_1897/|title=Jeannette Durno to be Heard|date=September 12, 1897|work=Chicago Tribune|access-date=December 9, 2019|page=43|via=Newspapers.com}} She studied piano in Vienna, with Theodor Leschetizky; she also trained as a vocalist.{{Cite journal|date=March 1915|title=Jeannette Durno: America's Brilliant Pianist|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-QAtAAAAYAAJ&q=Jeannette+Durno&pg=PA228|journal=The Musical Monitor|volume=4|pages=228}}{{Cite journal|date=November 1899|title=Miss Jeannette Durno|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ipq-KE4SGEQC|journal=Music|pages=80–81}}
Career
Jeannette Durno was a frequent guest soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40316105/jeannette_durno_1923/|title=Jeannette Durno Has Success Both in U.S. and European Tours|date=February 13, 1923|work=Muncie Evening Press|access-date=December 9, 2019|page=4|via=Newspapers.com}} She toured in the United States and Canada, mostly in the midwest, but also appearing in New York and Boston.{{Cite journal|date=October 16, 1901|title=Jeannette Durno|url=https://archive.org/details/musicalcourierwe4319unse/page/n439?q=Jeannette+Durno|journal=Musical Courier|volume=43|pages=37}} She played in Los Angeles at the Biennial Festival of the National Federation of Music Clubs in 1915.{{Cite journal|date=May 28, 1915|title=Notes on the N. F. M. C.|url=https://archive.org/details/musicnews71watt/page/n799?q=Jeannette+Durno|journal=The Music News|volume=7|pages=28}} She made some piano rolls of her performances of works by Liszt, Debussy, Grieg, and Chopin. She was known especially for her interpretations of Chopin.{{Cite news|url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/data/batches/mnhi_hallock_ver01/data/sn90059523/00206537012/1899011201/0123.pdf|title=Jeannette Durno Coming|date=January 12, 1899|work=St. Paul Globe|access-date=December 8, 2019|page=2|via=Chronicling America}}{{Cite journal|date=May 6, 1916|title=Jeannette Durno's Recital|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D0w0AQAAMAAJ&dq=Jeannette+Durno&pg=RA11-PA33|journal=Musical America|pages=61}} "Among the younger pianists of the middle western states few more notable are to be found that Miss Jeannette Durno of Chicago," explained one publication in 1899.
She also taught piano in Chicago.{{Cite journal|date=November 17, 1922|title=Jeannette Durno Studio Notes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bmhFAQAAMAAJ&dq=Jeannette+Durno&pg=RA7-PA9|journal=Music News|volume=14|pages=13}}{{Cite journal|date=January 25, 1905|title=Jeannette Durno-Collins' Pupils|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dXK8cIBCOjkC&dq=Jeannette+Durno&pg=RA8-PA40|journal=Musical Courier|volume=50|pages=43}} Among her students were Canadian pianists Evelyn Eby,{{Cite web|url=https://encyclopediecanadienne.com/article/bedford-and-eby-emc|title=Bedford and Eby|website=The Canadian Encyclopedia|access-date=2019-12-09}} Neil Chotem, and Lyell Gustin.{{Cite web|url=https://www.gustinhouse.ca/2016-05-05-11-22-28/about-lyell-gustin.html|title=About Lyell Gustin|website=Gustin House|access-date=2019-12-09|archive-date=January 5, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200105060446/http://www.gustinhouse.ca/2016-05-05-11-22-28/about-lyell-gustin.html|url-status=dead}} She also taught music pedagogy to piano teachers.{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/millidek2519jame|title=Millidek|last=James Millikin University|date=1929|publisher=Decatur, IL|others=Millikin University Staley Library|pages=[https://archive.org/details/millidek2519jame/page/64 64]}} Frank La Forge dedicated a 1911 composition titled "Romance" to Durno.{{Cite web|url=https://imslp.org/wiki/Romance_(La_Forge,_Frank)|title=Romance (La Forge, Frank)|website=IMSLP|access-date=2019-12-09}} She was active in the Musicians Club of Women.{{Cite journal|date=December 1, 1922|title=Musicians Club of Women|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bmhFAQAAMAAJ&dq=Jeannette+Durno&pg=RA7-PA9|journal=Music News|volume=14|pages=17}}
"To me, a pianist lacking spontaneity is uninteresting," Durno told an interviewer in 1920. "Therefore it is one of my especial aims, both in my own playing and in my teaching, to preserve freshness and avoid the obviously studied effort, which is unfortunately noticeable in so much piano playing."{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40315617/jeannette_durno_1920/|title='There Is No Halting Stage in Art' Says Jeannette Durno, Chicago Pianist and Teacher|date=March 13, 1920|work=Saskatoon Daily Star|access-date=December 9, 2019|page=8|via=Newspapers.com}}
Personal life
Jeannette Durno married her manager, Dunstan Collins, in 1901. They divorced in 1910.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40316215/jeannette_durno_1910/|title=Married to Reform Him|date=March 11, 1910|work=Brazil Daily Times|access-date=December 9, 2019|page=5|via=Newspapers.com}} She was a champion amateur golfer in Chicago.{{Cite journal|date=July 29, 1916|title=Jeannette Durno Wins Trophies as Golfing Expert|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D0w0AQAAMAAJ&dq=Jeannette+Durno&pg=RA11-PA33|journal=Musical America|pages=33}} She died in 1963, aged 87 years, in Los Angeles, California. Her grave is with that of her pianist sister, Blanche St. John Baker, in Glendale, California.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Find a Grave|137985854}}
- [https://soundcloud.com/veikko-viljanen/jeanette-durno-plays-mendelssohn-scherzo-caprice-trumpeter-piece-op16-no2-em-on-duoart-5690 A recording of Jeannette Durno] playing Mendelssohn's "Scherzo" in 1915 (on SoundCloud; originally on piano roll).
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Durno, Jeannette}}
Category:People from Bruce County
Category:Musicians from Rockford, Illinois
Category:Canadian emigrants to the United States
Category:Rockford University alumni
Category:American women classical pianists
Category:American classical pianists
Category:20th-century American women pianists
Category:20th-century American pianists
Category:Classical musicians from Illinois