Frances Steiner
Encyclopedia
Frances Steiner is an American conductor
, cellist and professor emeritus. Steiner is known for her advocacy of American music
, especially works by women and African-Americans, and for her expertise in 18th century performance practices. She has directed a number of world and West coast premieres of composers such as Ellen Zwilich
[6], George Walker
[7] and Augusta Read Thomas
[8]. She is currently the Music Director of the Chamber Orchestra of the South Bay in Los Angeles
.
Steiner won a cello scholarship to the Curtis Institute of Music
at the age of eight, making her the youngest cellist ever to be admitted to Curtis. The same year, the Philadelphia Orchestra
selected her composition for performance in its Children's Concert Series[7]. At age 16, she took a required course in choral conducting at Temple University
and found herself smitten with the discipline. Steiner studied composition with Walter Piston
and Randall Thompson
, cello with Gregor Piatigorsky
and Leonard Rose
, and conducting with Elaine Brown
and Nadia Boulanger
. At 18, she earned a B.S. in Education from Temple University. Degrees from Curtis (B.A.-- Music), Radcliffe College
/Harvard University
(M.A.-- Music) and the University of Southern California
(D.M.A.-- Cello and Conducting) followed.
Conductor
In 1974, Steiner became the Music Director of the Chamber Orchestra of the South Bay (formerly the Baroque Consortium Chamber Orchestra), a post she still holds today; making Steiner the longest-serving music director
in the history of the orchestra. Steiner served a 31 year tenure as the Music Director of the Carson-Dominguez Hills Symphony Orchestra (1977–2008). In addition, she succeeded Hans Lampl to serve as the Music Director of the Compton Civic Symphony from 1974 to 1978.
Cellist
At the age of 13, Steiner began her career as a cello virtuoso
, appearing as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Her multi-faceted career has included recital
s and chamber music
concerts at Town Hall (New York) and the Kennedy Center (Washington, DC); the Assistant Principal Chair of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra
and principal cellist chairs with the California Chamber Symphony, Glendale Symphony, and Festival Orchestra at Lincoln Center; solo cello appearances with the Glendale Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra. The conductors that she has worked with include Leopold Stokowski
, Carmen Dragon
, Daniel Lewis
, and Neville Marriner
.
Breaking Gender Barriers
At a time when women were not accepted into the ranks of many major symphony orchestras, Steiner's pursuit of a career in conducting seemed impossible [1].
In 1974, when Steiner became the Music Director of the Compton Civic Symphony, she was one of only four women in the nation to hold such a post. [2] Three years later, in 1977, she became the first woman to conduct a professional orchestra
from the stage of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
of the Los Angeles Music Center
. [3][4][5] In the same year Steiner conducted at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the 146 conductors of the major symphony, regional and metropolitan orchestras in the United States and Canada
were all male.
On the international stage, she was the first woman to conduct the National Symphony Orchestra
of the Dominican Republic
, the first woman to conduct the Sofia Chamber Orchestra in Russia
, and the first American woman to conduct the Maracaibo Symphony in Venezuela
. She has been a guest conductor with a number of orchestras, including, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra
, The Long Beach Symphony, the Oakland Symphony, and the Bay Area Women's Philharmonic.
Professional Music Fraternity’s Elizabeth Mathias Award (1998) and Award of Merit (2003), and the Outstanding Professor Award at California State University, Dominguez Hills
(1991). In addition, the Chamber Orchestra of the South Bay has been awarded several NEA
grants, and the Carson-Dominguez Hills Symphony was honored with the Arts and Humanities Award of the National Recreation and Park Association
, Southwest Regional Council (1988).
Sonatas for Cello and Piano by Paul Hindemith, Frances Steiner, Cello, David Berfield, Piano, Orion Records 1973
Musicianship for the Classroom Teacher, by Max Kaplan and Frances Steiner, Rand-McNally 1966
where he became the Principal Cellist of the Portland Symphony Orchestra
and married Elizabeth Levy. Their first daughter, Diana, was a child prodigy
who won a scholarship in violin
to the Curtis Institute of Music. Diana's scholarship to Curtis prompted the family’s move to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
. In 1945, Frances followed in the footsteps of her older sister, by winning a cello scholarship to Curtis.
In 1965, Frances Steiner married an attorney
, Mervin I. Tarlow. In 1975, she gave birth to a daughter, Sarah Leah Tarlow, also an attorney.
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
, cellist and professor emeritus. Steiner is known for her advocacy of American music
American music
The music of the Americas is very diverse since, in addition to many types of Native American music, the music of Africa and the music of Europe have been found there for some five centuries, creating many hybrid forms that have influenced the popular music of the world.-See also:*Canadian...
, especially works by women and African-Americans, and for her expertise in 18th century performance practices. She has directed a number of world and West coast premieres of composers such as Ellen Zwilich
Ellen Zwilich
Ellen Taaffe Zwilich is an American composer, the first female composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. Her early works are marked by atonal exploration, but by the late 1980s she had shifted to a post-modernist, neo-romantic style...
[6], George Walker
George Walker (composer)
George Theophilus Walker is an African-American composer, the first to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. He received the Pulitzer for his work Lilacs in 1996....
[7] and Augusta Read Thomas
Augusta Read Thomas
Augusta Read Thomas is an American composer.Augusta Read Thomas was born in Glen Cove, New York. She attended The Green Vale School and later moved on to St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, and then studied composition with Jacob Druckman at Yale University and at the Royal Academy of...
[8]. She is currently the Music Director of the Chamber Orchestra of the South Bay in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
Career
Musical trainingSteiner won a cello scholarship to the Curtis Institute of Music
Curtis Institute of Music
The Curtis Institute of Music is a conservatory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that offers courses of study leading to a performance Diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in Opera, and Professional Studies Certificate in Opera. According to statistics compiled by U.S...
at the age of eight, making her the youngest cellist ever to be admitted to Curtis. The same year, the Philadelphia Orchestra
Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...
selected her composition for performance in its Children's Concert Series[7]. At age 16, she took a required course in choral conducting at Temple University
Temple University
Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...
and found herself smitten with the discipline. Steiner studied composition with Walter Piston
Walter Piston
Walter Hamor Piston Jr., , was an American composer of classical music, music theorist and professor of music at Harvard University whose students included Leroy Anderson, Leonard Bernstein, and Elliott Carter....
and Randall Thompson
Randall Thompson
Randall Thompson was an American composer, particularly noted for his choral works.-Career:He attended Harvard University, became assistant professor of music and choir director at Wellesley College, and received a doctorate in music from the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music...
, cello with Gregor Piatigorsky
Gregor Piatigorsky
Gregor Piatigorsky was a Russian-born American cellist.-Early life:...
and Leonard Rose
Leonard Rose
Leonard Rose was an American cellist and pedagogue.Rose was born in Washington, D.C., his parents were immigrants from Kiev, Ukraine...
, and conducting with Elaine Brown
Elaine Brown
Elaine Brown is an American prison activist, writer, singer, and former Black Panther leader who is based in Oakland, California. She is a former chairperson of the Black Panther Party. Brown briefly ran for the Green Party presidential nomination in 2008...
and Nadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger was a French composer, conductor and teacher who taught many composers and performers of the 20th century.From a musical family, she achieved early honours as a student at the Paris Conservatoire, but believing that her talent as a composer was inferior to that of her younger...
. At 18, she earned a B.S. in Education from Temple University. Degrees from Curtis (B.A.-- Music), Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was the coordinate college for Harvard University. It was also one of the Seven Sisters colleges. Radcliffe College conferred joint Harvard-Radcliffe diplomas beginning in 1963 and a formal merger agreement with...
/Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
(M.A.-- Music) and the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
(D.M.A.-- Cello and Conducting) followed.
Conductor
In 1974, Steiner became the Music Director of the Chamber Orchestra of the South Bay (formerly the Baroque Consortium Chamber Orchestra), a post she still holds today; making Steiner the longest-serving music director
Music director
A music director may be the director of an orchestra, the director of music for a film, the director of music at a radio station, the head of the music department in a school, the co-ordinator of the musical ensembles in a university or college , the head bandmaster of a military band, the head...
in the history of the orchestra. Steiner served a 31 year tenure as the Music Director of the Carson-Dominguez Hills Symphony Orchestra (1977–2008). In addition, she succeeded Hans Lampl to serve as the Music Director of the Compton Civic Symphony from 1974 to 1978.
Cellist
At the age of 13, Steiner began her career as a cello virtuoso
Virtuoso
A virtuoso is an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability in the fine arts, at singing or playing a musical instrument. The plural form is either virtuosi or the Anglicisation, virtuosos, and the feminine form sometimes used is virtuosa...
, appearing as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Her multi-faceted career has included recital
Recital
A recital is a musical performance. It can highlight a single performer, sometimes accompanied by piano, or a performance of the works of a single composer.The invention of the solo piano recital has been attributed to Franz Liszt....
s and chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
concerts at Town Hall (New York) and the Kennedy Center (Washington, DC); the Assistant Principal Chair of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra
Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra
The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra is a 40-member American chamber orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, considered by music critic Jim Svejda as "America's finest chamber orchestra".-History:...
and principal cellist chairs with the California Chamber Symphony, Glendale Symphony, and Festival Orchestra at Lincoln Center; solo cello appearances with the Glendale Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra. The conductors that she has worked with include Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Anthony Stokowski was a British-born, naturalised American orchestral conductor, well known for his free-hand performing style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from many of the great orchestras he conducted.In America, Stokowski...
, Carmen Dragon
Carmen Dragon
Carmen Dragon was an American conductor, composer, and arranger who in addition to live performances and recording, worked in radio, film, and television.Dragon was born in Antioch, California...
, Daniel Lewis
Daniel Lewis (conductor)
Daniel George Lewis is an American orchestral conductor and pedagogue. He is a University Professor Emeritus at the University of Southern California .- Education :...
, and Neville Marriner
Neville Marriner
Sir Neville Marriner is an English conductor and violinist.-Biography:Marriner was born in Lincoln and studied at the Royal College of Music and the Paris Conservatoire. He played the violin in the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Martin String Quartet and London Symphony Orchestra, playing with the...
.
Breaking Gender Barriers
At a time when women were not accepted into the ranks of many major symphony orchestras, Steiner's pursuit of a career in conducting seemed impossible [1].
In 1974, when Steiner became the Music Director of the Compton Civic Symphony, she was one of only four women in the nation to hold such a post. [2] Three years later, in 1977, she became the first woman to conduct a professional orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
from the stage of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is one of the halls in the Los Angeles Music Center . The Music Center's other halls include the Mark Taper Forum, Ahmanson Theatre, and Walt Disney Concert Hall.The Pavilion has 3,197 seats spread over four tiers, with chandeliers, wide curving stairways and rich décor...
of the Los Angeles Music Center
Los Angeles Music Center
The Music Center is one of the three largest performing arts centers in the nation. Located in downtown Los Angeles, the Music Center is home to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Ahmanson Theater, Mark Taper Forum and Walt Disney Concert Hall...
. [3][4][5] In the same year Steiner conducted at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the 146 conductors of the major symphony, regional and metropolitan orchestras in the United States and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
were all male.
On the international stage, she was the first woman to conduct the National Symphony Orchestra
National Symphony Orchestra (Dominican Republic)
The National Symphony Orchestra of the Dominican Republic is the leading classical orchestra of the Dominican Republic; it was founded in 1941.-Antecedents:The National Symphony Orchestra was officially created on August 5, 1941...
of the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
, the first woman to conduct the Sofia Chamber Orchestra in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, and the first American woman to conduct the Maracaibo Symphony in Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
. She has been a guest conductor with a number of orchestras, including, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra
Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra
The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra is a professional chamber orchestra in Madison, Wisconsin. Its current conductor, Andrew Sewell, began his tenure with the orchestra in 2000. It was founded in 1960 by Gordon B. Wright...
, The Long Beach Symphony, the Oakland Symphony, and the Bay Area Women's Philharmonic.
Awards
Steiner has received a number of awards, including the Conductors Guild Prize in the American Conductors’ Competition (1978), the Mu Phi EpsilonMu Phi Epsilon
Mu Phi Epsilon is a co-ed international professional music fraternity and honor society. It boasts over 75,000 members in 128 collegiate chapters and 74 alumni chapters in the US and abroad.-History:...
Professional Music Fraternity’s Elizabeth Mathias Award (1998) and Award of Merit (2003), and the Outstanding Professor Award at California State University, Dominguez Hills
California State University, Dominguez Hills
California State University, Dominguez Hills is a public university located in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County and was founded in 1960...
(1991). In addition, the Chamber Orchestra of the South Bay has been awarded several NEA
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
grants, and the Carson-Dominguez Hills Symphony was honored with the Arts and Humanities Award of the National Recreation and Park Association
National Recreation and Park Association
The National Recreation and Park Association provides information and services to communities in the United States attempting to make them conscious of the environment around them. It supports the construction of parks and recreational facilities around the United States...
, Southwest Regional Council (1988).
Recordings
Steiner-Berfield Trio: Beethoven’s Trio, Opus 36 (after Symphony No. 2), Diana Steiner, Violin, Frances Steiner, Cello, David Berfield, Piano, Orion Records 1977Sonatas for Cello and Piano by Paul Hindemith, Frances Steiner, Cello, David Berfield, Piano, Orion Records 1973
Publications
Six Minuets for Two Cellos by Joseph Haydn, edited and arranged by Frances J. Steiner, Boosey and Hawkes 1967Musicianship for the Classroom Teacher, by Max Kaplan and Frances Steiner, Rand-McNally 1966
Biography
Steiner's father, Ferenz Joseph Steiner, was a Hungarian cellist who emigrated to the United States in 1908. After living in both New York and Detroit, he moved to Los Angeles. It was the era when films were made without scores, and Ferenz Joseph found work in a Hollywood movie house orchestra. He later moved to Portland, OregonPortland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
where he became the Principal Cellist of the Portland Symphony Orchestra
Portland Symphony Orchestra
The Portland Symphony Orchestra, established in 1923 in Portland, Maine, is a fully professional symphony that is recognized as being one of the top orchestras of its size in the country. The orchestra performs a wide variety of concerts, frequently featuring guest artists, at the Merrill...
and married Elizabeth Levy. Their first daughter, Diana, was a child prodigy
Child prodigy
A child prodigy is someone who, at an early age, masters one or more skills far beyond his or her level of maturity. One criterion for classifying prodigies is: a prodigy is a child, typically younger than 18 years old, who is performing at the level of a highly trained adult in a very demanding...
who won a scholarship in violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
to the Curtis Institute of Music. Diana's scholarship to Curtis prompted the family’s move to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. In 1945, Frances followed in the footsteps of her older sister, by winning a cello scholarship to Curtis.
In 1965, Frances Steiner married an attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, Mervin I. Tarlow. In 1975, she gave birth to a daughter, Sarah Leah Tarlow, also an attorney.