Denise Tolkowsky was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

-born pianist

Pianist

A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

 and composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

.

Biography

Denise Tolkowsky was born in Brighton

Brighton

Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, the daughter of a Russian

Russians

The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....

 father and Flemish

Flemish

Flemish can refer to anything related to Flanders, and may refer directly to the following articles:*Flemish, an informal, though linguistically incorrect, name of any kind of the Dutch language as spoken in Belgium....

 singer and actress Anna Kennes. She studied music at the Royal Flemish Conservatory in Antwerp, with E. Durlet for piano, Edward Verheyden for harmony, Karel Candael for counterpoint and fugue and Flor Alpaerts

Flor Alpaerts

Flor Alpaerts was a Belgian conductor, pedagogue and composer. He graduated from the Vlaamse Muziekschool in 1901....

 for composition. She married pianist Alex de Vries and worked as a composer and concert pianist, sometimes performing in a duo with de Vries. He committed suicide in May 1964 and Tolkowsky set up Alex de Vries Fund in his honor, an organization to assist young musicians in starting their careers. Tolkowsky became director of the Flemish region of Yehudi Menuhin

Yehudi Menuhin

Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE was a Russian Jewish American violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom. He was born to Russian Jewish parents in the United States, but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and of the United Kingdom in 1985...

's Live Music Now in 1980. She died in Anvers, Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

.

Honors and awards

Honors and awards included:

• International dance competition in Brussels, 1931
• International Viotti Competition in Italy, silver medal
• Young Talent competition in Brussels
• Ferris-Tolkowsky Prize
• Anna Kennedy Prize

Works

Tolkowsky wrote for theater, orchestra, chamber ensemble, solo piano and voice. She also wrote a number of songs. Selected works include:

• t kwezelke ballet, 1931
• Le Jeu du Coeur ballet, 1939
• People Of Earth ballet, 1939
• Camp for mezzo soprano and chamber orchestra, text by Marcel Coole, 1939
• Homage to Bela Bartok for flute, violin, piano and percussion, 1950
• Adagio for Strings for orchestra, 1950.
• Sonatine for piano
• Rhythmic for piano
• Etudes for piano
• Preludes for piano
• Variations for piano
• Concerto for piano and orchestra, 1958
• Variations on a Russian theme, 1961