Sarah Gurowitsch
{{Short description|Russian Empire-born American cellist and composer (1889–1981)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Sarah Gurowitsch
| image = SarahGurowitsch1914.png
| alt = A young white woman holding a cello and bow.
| caption = Sarah Gurowitsch, from a 1914 publication
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1889|02|17}}
| birth_place = Russia
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1981|04|24|1889|02|17}}
| death_place = New York
| nationality = American
| other_names = Sara Gurowitsch, Sara Gurovitch, Sara Gurowitch, Sara Leight, S. Gurowitsch
| occupation = Cellist and composer
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
}}
Sara Gurowitsch (February 17, 1889 – April 24, 1981) was a Russian-born American cellist and composer.
Early life
Sarah Gurowitsch was born in the Russian Empire, the daughter of Harry and Esther Goldenberg Gurowitsch, and raised in New York.{{Cite journal|date=February 1909|title=A Young Cellist|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AOAqAAAAYAAJ&q=Sara+Gurowitch&pg=RA3-PA37|journal=The Violinist|volume=6|pages=37}} Her brother Frank and her sister Esther were also musicians.{{Cite web|url=http://composers-classical-music.com/g/GurowitschSarah.htm|title=Sarah Gurowitsch|website=Composers Classical Music|access-date=2019-12-16}} She studied in New York at the National Conservatory of Music and with cellists Hans Kronold and Leo Schulz,{{Cite journal|date=March 5, 1902|title=National Conservatory of Music|journal=Musical Courier|volume=44|pages=24}}Tonkünstler Society of New York (1901). Programmes, Names of Members and Officers pp. 12, 14, 17. then went to Germany for further musical studies with Robert Hausmann.{{Cite journal|date=February 1907|title=Sara Gurovitch|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=78ExAQAAMAAJ&q=Sara+Gurovitch&pg=PA124|journal=The Etude|volume=25|pages=124}} In 1906, she won the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdi Prize in Berlin.{{Cite journal|date=March 1914|title=Marcus A. Kellerman, Noted Dramatic Baritone|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uGzwTpUHupAC&q=Sarah+Gurowitsch&pg=PP321|journal=The Lyceum News|pages=4}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.fmb-hochschulwettbewerb.de/wettbewerb/archiv/preistrager/stipendien-1879-1934/|title=Stipendien (1879–1934) {{!}} Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Hochschulwettbewerb|language=de-DE|access-date=2019-12-16}}
Career
While in Europe, Gurowitsch played Eugen d'Albert's cello concerto, with the composer himself accompanying her on piano. She made her American debut in 1910, with the New York Symphony Orchestra, under conductor Walter Damrosch.{{Cite web|url=https://archives.nyphil.org/index.php/search?search-type=singleFilter&search-text=*&doctype=program&npp:ComposerWorksTitle_facet%5B0%5D=Kaun,++Hugo+/+ORIGINAL+COMPOSITIONS,+SMALL+ORCHESTRA,+OP.+70|title=1910 Dec 09, 11 (Subscription Season) SSO|website=New York Philharmonic, Leon Levy Digital Archives|access-date=2019-12-16}}{{Cite news|title=The New York Symphony: New Pieces by Hugo Kaun – Miss Gurowitsch Plays d'Albert's 'Cello Concerto|date=December 2, 1910|work=The New York Times|page=9}} In 1913 she made a recording of the Kol Nidre,{{Cite web|url=https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/talent/detail/8660/Gurowitsch_Sarah_instrumentalist_cello|title=Sarah Gurowitsch (instrumentalist : cello)|website=Discography of American Historical Recordings|access-date=2019-12-16}} and headlined a "Russian Music Carnival" at Carnegie Hall.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40620595/russian_music_carnival/|title=Russian Music Carnival|date=1913-04-22|work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|access-date=2019-12-16|pages=20|via=Newspapers.com}}
In 1914, she toured on the lyceum circuit with baritone Marcus A. Kellerman. In 1916, she played at a concert of Jewish music at Columbia University.{{Cite journal|date=June 1917|title=Columbia Menorah Concert of Jewish Music|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iKhCr05rxIYC&q=Gurowitsch+cello&pg=RA1-PA190|journal=The Menorah Journal|volume=3|pages=190}} She played a concert at Bushwick High School in 1917.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40620260/s_gurowitch_russian_cellist_at/|title=S. Gurowitch, Russian 'cellist at Bushwick High School|date=1917-02-10|work=The Chat|access-date=2019-12-16|pages=1|via=Newspapers.com}} "She has a splendid command of her instrument," commented one reviewer in 1919, "gets a beautiful tone, and plays with sureness and soulful interpretation."{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40620468/fine_concert/|title=Fine Concert|date=1919-04-03|work=Star-Gazette|access-date=2019-12-16|pages=4|via=Newspapers.com}}
Gurowitsch left the professional stage after marriage in 1919, but she occasionally played at Jewish women's events in Bergen County, New Jersey. For example, in 1931 she played at a women's meeting of the YMHA,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40631549/womens_division_to_meet_on_monday/|title=Women's Division to Meet on Monday|date=1930-05-17|work=The Record|access-date=2019-12-16|pages=18|via=Newspapers.com}} and in 1939 she performed at a local meeting of the National Council of Jewish Women.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40621125/administration_is_reelected_by_jewish/|title=Administration is Re-Elected by Jewish Women's Council|date=1939-05-03|work=The Record|access-date=2019-12-16|pages=15|via=Newspapers.com}}
Personal life
Sarah Gurowitsch married a fellow Russian immigrant, Samuel Benjamin Leight, in 1919. Their sons Lawrence and Donald became musicians;{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/18/nyregion/donald-leight-80-musician-who-inspired-play-side-man.html|title=Donald Leight, 80, Musician Who Inspired Play 'Side Man'|last=Keepnews|first=Peter|date=2004-01-18|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-12-16|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} another son, Edward, became an illustrator. Playwright and television producer Warren Leight is Sarah Gurowitsch's grandson. Her husband died in 1970.{{Cite news|title=Deaths|date=May 31, 1970|work=The New York Times|page=57}} Sarah Gurowitsch Leight died in 1981, aged 92 years.{{Cite news|title=Deaths|date=April 30, 1981|work=The New York Times|page=B12}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.muziekweb.eu/en/Link/CJX4403/Esquisses-H%C3%A9bra%C3%AFques-Clarinet-quintets-on-Jewish-themes Esquisses Hébraïques : Clarinet quintets on Jewish themes] (1999), includes a recording of Sarah Gurowitsch's "Kol nidrei" for clarinet and string quartet.
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Category:American women classical cellists
Category:American classical cellists
Category:Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States
Category:National Conservatory of Music of America alumni
Category:20th-century American musicians
Category:20th-century American women musicians