Mana-Zucca was an American actress, singer, pianist and composer born in New York City.

Life

Mana-Zucca was born Augusta Zuckerman in New York City on December 25, 1885. She was a child prodigy who began composing at an early age. At the age of eight, she performed as piano soloist in the Beethoven Piano Concerto #1 with the New York Symphony Orchestra

New York Symphony Orchestra

The New York Symphony Orchestra was founded as the New York Symphony Society in New York City by Leopold Damrosch in 1878. For many years it was a fierce rival to the older Philharmonic Symphony Society of New York. It was supported by Andrew Carnegie who built Carnegie Hall expressly for the...

. In 1914 she made her stage debut with a soprano role in Franz Lehár

Franz Lehár

Franz Lehár was an Austrian-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas of which the most successful and best known is The Merry Widow .-Biography:...

's "Countess of Luxembourg." She studied piano under Ferruccio Busoni

Ferruccio Busoni

Ferruccio Busoni was an Italian composer, pianist, editor, writer, piano and composition teacher, and conductor.-Biography:...

, Leopold Godowsky

Leopold Godowsky

Leopold Godowsky was a famed Polish American pianist, composer, and teacher. One of the most highly regarded performers of his time, he became known for his theories concerning the application of relaxed weight and economy of motion in piano playing, principles later propagated by Godowsky's...

 and Alexander Lambert, and composition under Hermann Spielter.

Zucca married Irwin Cassel (d. 1971) and had one child in 1925. Irwin Cassel wrote the words for a number of Zucca's songs, including the most popular "I Love Life." For a time, Zucca operated a concert hall which featured guest soloists including Efrem Zimbalist

Efrem Zimbalist

Efrem Zimbalist, Sr. was one of the world's most prominent concert violinists, as well as a composer, teacher, conductor and a long-time director of the Curtis Institute of Music.-Early life:...

, Mischa Elman, Jan Peerce

Jan Peerce

Jan Peerce was an American operatic tenor. Peerce was an accomplished performer on the operatic and Broadway concert stages, in solo recitals, and as a recording artist. He is the father of film director Larry Peerce....

 and Jose Iturbi

José Iturbi

José Iturbi was a Spanish conductor, harpsichordist and pianist. He appeared in several Hollywood films of the 1940s, notably playing himself in the 1943 musical, Thousands Cheer and in the 1945 film, Anchors Aweigh...

. Zucca died in Miami on March 8, 1981, and her papers including copies significantly all of her compositions are housed at Florida International University.

Works

Mana-Zucca composed over 1,000 works, including opera, orchestral works, ballet, chamber music and solo works, including a violin concerto for the American violinist Joan Field

Joan Field

-Biography and career:Joan Field was born in Long Branch, New Jersey. She began violin studies at the age of 5. She was a pupil of Franz Kneisel, Albert Spalding and Michel Piastro in the United States and spent 4 years in Paris during her teens studying with Marcel Chailley, Jacques Thibaud and...

, but is best known through popular songs.