Marta Casals Istomin
Encyclopedia
Manhattan School of Music
The Manhattan School of Music is a major music conservatory located on the Upper West Side of New York City. The school offers degrees on the bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition...
.
Early years
She was born Marta Montañez Martínez on November 2, 1936 in Humacao, Puerto RicoPuerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
to a family of amateur musicians. As a child she was influenced by surroundings which were instrumental in the development of her love for music. She received her primary education in her hometown. Her uncle, Rafael Montañez, taught her the fundamentals of the 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....
at the age of six. After she finished her primary education, she attended New York's Marymount School of the Convent of the Sacred Heart of Mary for four years.
Pau Casals
Eventually, Casals Istomin was awarded a scholarship to attend Mannes College of MusicMannes College of Music
Mannes College The New School for Music is The New School university's music conservatory. While the university's main campus is located in Greenwich Village, New York City, Mannes maintains its main academic building on the Upper West Side of Manhattan....
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to study cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
. In 1952, her uncle Rafael took the 15 year old to the Prades
Prades
-Places:* Prades, Ardèche, in the Ardèche département, France* Prades, Ariège, in the Ariège département, France* Prades, Haute-Loire, in the Haute-Loire département, France...
Festival. There she first met the Maestro Pau Casals (1876-1973) who was very impressed when he heard her play. Casals recommended that she return to New York where he would accept her as a student. In 1954, Casals Istomin graduated "summa cum laude
Latin honors
Latin honors are Latin phrases used to indicate the level of academic distinction with which an academic degree was earned. This system is primarily used in the United States, Canada, and in many countries of continental Europe, though some institutions also use the English translation of these...
" from Mannes College and joined Casals in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
where she became an active participant in the Prades
Prades
-Places:* Prades, Ardèche, in the Ardèche département, France* Prades, Ariège, in the Ariège département, France* Prades, Haute-Loire, in the Haute-Loire département, France...
Festival.
In 1957, she married eighty one year old Pau Casals and together they founded the Casals Festival
Casals Festival
The Casals Festival is a classical music event celebrated every year in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in honor of world renowned musician Pablo Casals.-Background:...
in San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
and the Puerto Rican Symphony Orchestra. As Co-Chairwoman of the Board and Music Director of the Casals Festival, she became a force for the development of fine music on the island. In 1959, Casals Istomin co-founded the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music. When her husband died on 1973, she took it upon herself the responsibility of running the festival. That same year she established a string program for young children which has produced most of the string players for the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra
Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra
The Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra is Puerto Rico’s foremost musical ensemble, and one of the most renowned orchestras of the Americas...
. She also acted as visiting cello professor in 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...
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
. Casals Istomin was named Vice-President of the Pau Casals Foundation and Museum in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
.
The Kennedy Center's Terrace Concerts
Casals Istomin met world renowned pianist Eugene IstominEugene Istomin
Eugene George Istomin was an American pianist.Istomin was born in New York City of Russian parents. He was famous for his work in a piano trio, in which he collaborated with Isaac Stern and Leonard Rose. Known as the Istomin-Stern-Rose Trio, the group made many recordings, particularly of music by...
and they were married on February 15, 1975. In 1979, she resigned from her position in the Casals Festival and from 1980-1990 served as the Artistic Director of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center located on the Potomac River, adjacent to the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. During her years as director she founded The Kennedy Center's Terrace Concerts. She also established the largest ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
series in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
From 1990-1997, Casals Istomin was the General Director of "Recontres Musicales d'Evian Festival International" in France. As director, she was instrumental in the establishment of master classes with the festival's visiting artists and the expansion of the festival by requiring an inclusion of choral music. This led to the building of a new concert hall.
Spokeswoman
Casals Istomin, who is fluent in EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and Catalan
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
belongs to or has acted as spokeswoman for the following organizations:
- Member, Board of Trustees, Marlboro School of Music (1973-present)
- Member of the first cultural delegation to the Republic of ChinaRepublic of ChinaThe Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
(1980) - Member of the U.S. Advisory on Culture for UNESCOUNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
in Mexico CityMexico CityMexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
and ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
(1980s) - Keynote speaker, Chamber Music America Convention in N.Y.C. (1981-84)
- Delegate to the World Arts Forum in GenevaGenevaGeneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
(1989, 1990) - Member, National Council on the Arts, the advisory council for the National Endowment for the Arts (1991-1997) appointed by President George H. Bush.
- Keynote speaker for International Society of Performing Arts Administrators
Later years
On July 1, 1992, Casals Istomin was named President of the Manhattan School of Music, a position which she held until her retirement in October 2005. In 1998, the National Puerto Rican Day Parade named Casals Istomin the Grand Marshall of the parade. Eugene Istomin died in 2003. During the years she has been honored with six honorary doctoral degrees. She has also been decorated with the highest cultural honors by the governments of Puerto Rico, Spain, France and GermanyGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Casals Istomin currently is a member of the Manhattan School of Music's board of directors. She is also a member of the Artistic Council of the Kronberg Academy
Kronberg Academy
Kronberg Academy is an international cultural institution based in Kronberg im Taunus, Germany, for the education and support of highly gifted young violinists, violists and especially cellists. Studies are supported by a biennial Cello Festival and the International Pablo Casals Cello Competition...
.
See also
- List of famous Puerto Ricans
- For other uses of the name Casals, see Casals (disambiguation)Casals (disambiguation)Casals is a Catalan surname, the plural form of Casal . Notable persons with that surname include:*Marta Casals Istomin, wife of Pablo Casals and former president of Manhattan School of Music...
.