Rae Bernstein
{{short description|American pianist}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Rae Bernstein
| image = RaeBernstein1927.png
| alt = A woman with wavy dark hair and fair skin, wearing pearls
| caption = Rae Bernstein, from a 1927 publication
| birth_name =
| birth_date = April 14, 1904
| birth_place = London, England, U.K.
| death_date = June 11, 1999 (age 95)
| death_place = Evanston, Illinois, U.S.
| other_names = Rae Best, Rose Best
| occupation = Pianist
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse(s) =
| relatives =
}}
Rae Bernstein Best (April 14, 1904 – June 11, 1999) was an American pianist, based in Chicago. She was called the "second Fannie Bloomfield-Zeisler" by Chicago music critic Herman Devries.{{Cite news |date=1927-11-26 |title=Rae Bernstein, Artist at Next Tuesday's Recital, Has Had Amazing Career |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/freeport-journal-standard-rae-bernstein/162127064/ |access-date=2025-01-02 |work=Freeport Journal-Standard |pages=6 |via=Newspapers.com}}
Early life and education
Bernstein was born in London and raised in Chicago, the daughter of Gershon (George) H. Bernstein{{Cite news |date=1964-07-01 |title=George H. Bernstein (death notice) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-george-h-bernstein-dea/162127659/ |access-date=2025-01-02 |work=Chicago Tribune |pages=62 |via=Newspapers.com}} and Sarah Efron Bernstein. Her parents were both Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire, and her home language was Yiddish. Her father was composer, choir master, and cantor at a synagogue, and he recognized her musical aptitude when she was young.{{Cite news |last=Struzzi |first=Diane |date=1999-06-21 |title=Piano virtuoso Rae Best, 95, played with CSO |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-piano-virtuoso-rae-best/162129316/ |access-date=2025-01-03 |work=Chicago Tribune |pages=123}} Her impoverished childhood was frequently mentioned in publicity.{{Cite news |date=1928-01-15 |title=Club Will Hear Rae Bernstein, Pianist |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-lexington-herald-club-will-hear-rae/162126695/ |access-date=2025-01-02 |work=The Lexington Herald |pages=13 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |date=1927-11-14 |title=Rae Bernstein Who Will Open Hardin Artist Series is Called Young Genius |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-news-and-intelligencer-rae-ber/162126165/ |access-date=2025-01-02 |work=The Daily News and Intelligencer |pages=1 |via=Newspapers.com}} She studied piano with Glenn Dillard Gunn.[https://books.google.com/books?id=OokU50Pk-04C&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=%22Rae%20Bernstein%22&pg=RA11-PA10#v=onepage&q=%22Rae%20Bernstein%22&f=false "Gunn School of Music Summer Master Classes"] Music News 20(February 24, 1928): 10. She won a scholarship to Juilliard in 1926, and studied with Arthur Freidham.
Career
Bernstein played piano in movie houses, and on WGN radio, as a teenager.{{Cite news |date=1924-11-22 |title=On W-G-N Program |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-on-w-g-n-program/162126870/ |access-date=2025-01-02 |work=Chicago Tribune |pages=8 |via=Newspapers.com}} She was soon hailed as a "genius",{{Cite news |date=1928-01-26 |title=Piano Numbers to be Presented by Rae Bernstein |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-recorder-piano-numbers-to-be-p/162126456/ |access-date=2025-01-02 |work=The Times Recorder |pages=7 |via=Newspapers.com}} and compared to Fanny Bloomfield-Zeisler.{{Cite news |date=1928-01-19 |title=Rae Bernstein, Pianist, is to Play at University |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chronicle-tribune-rae-bernstein-pianist/162125876/ |access-date=2025-01-02 |work=Chronicle Tribune |pages=11 |via=Newspapers.com}} She toured with Rosa Raisa in 1925 and 1926. She performed with the Women's Symphony Orchestra of Chicago, and as a soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.[https://books.google.com/books?id=SqGTi4fXSlMC&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=Agnes%20Leist%20Beebe&pg=PA12#v=onepage&q&f=false "Rae Bernstein Scores Great Success with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra"] Music News 19(January 7, 1927): 12.[https://cmuhistory.cmich.edu/?a=d&d=IsabellaCSL19280208.1.2&e=-------en-10--1--txt-txIN-------- "Talented Musician Charms Large Crowd"] Central State Life (February 8, 1928): 1. via Clarke Historical Library. She was especially known for playing works by Beethoven and Chopin.[https://books.google.com/books?id=OokU50Pk-04C&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=%22Rae%20Bernstein%22&pg=RA9-PA26#v=onepage&q=%22Rae%20Bernstein%22&f=false "Press Comments on the Playing of Rae Bernstein"] Music News 20(February 17, 1928): 26. "Her playing is so full of magnetism and vividness that no audience, even an unmusical one, could help sharing her appreciation of the musical beauties which she was showing them," wrote one reviewer of Bernstein's performances in North Dakota in 1928.[https://books.google.com/books?id=OokU50Pk-04C&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=%22Rae%20Bernstein%22&pg=RA20-PA26#v=onepage&q=%22Rae%20Bernstein%22&f=false "Rae Bernstein Charms MacDowell Club With Artistic Performances; Brilliant Renditions are Given"] Music News 20(April 13, 1928): 30.
Bernstein also taught piano classes at the northwest branch of the Jewish People's Institute in Chicago.[https://books.google.com/books?id=evpAMF32iQkC&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=%22Rae%20Bernstein%22&pg=PA248#v=onepage&q&f=false "Northwest Branch, Jewish People's Institute"] The Reform Advocate 69(March 21, 1925): 248. She continued to play occasionally for audiences in the 1930s, after she had married and moved away from Chicago.{{Cite news |date=1936-04-19 |title=Concert Pianist Holds Recital for Sisters of Sacred Heart |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-klamath-news-concert-pianist-holds-r/162128157/ |access-date=2025-01-02 |work=The Klamath News |pages=3 |via=Newspapers.com}} She joined the teaching staff at the School of Radio Arts in Los Angeles in 1940.{{Cite news |date=1940-02-10 |title=Pianist Rae Best on School Staff |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/los-angeles-evening-citizen-news-pianist/162128364/ |access-date=2025-01-02 |work=Los Angeles Evening Citizen News |pages=11 |via=Newspapers.com}}
Personal life
Bernstein married physician Albert A. Best. They lived in Spokane in 1935, and in Los Angeles by 1940; Dr. Best was a surgeon in Hollywood, where their daughter Davida was born in 1944.{{Cite news |date=1944-02-24 |title=Just Among Friends (social item) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/los-angeles-evening-citizen-news-just-am/162127843/ |access-date=2025-01-02 |work=Los Angeles Evening Citizen News |pages=11 |via=Newspapers.com}} Rae Best died in 1999, at the age of 95, in Evanston, Illinois.{{Cite news |date=1999-06-14 |title=Obituary for Rae BEST |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-obituary-for-rae-best/162127438/ |access-date=2025-01-02 |work=Chicago Tribune |pages=141 |via=Newspapers.com}}
References
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Category:20th-century American pianists
Category:20th-century American women pianists