Schubert Club
Encyclopedia
The Schubert Club, established in 1882, is a non-profit arts organization in St. Paul, Minnesota that promotes the art of music, particularly recital music. Music in the Park Series merged with The Schubert Club in 2010.
, along with some music-loving friends, formed a club they called “The Ladies Musicale,” thus creating Minnesota’s earliest recital-presenting organization. While the first meetings were social gatherings for women who busied themselves with fancy work—with Club members often providing musical counterpoint—concerts, lectures and study groups were soon organized. Before long the name was changed to honor Franz Schubert (who had lived some fifty years before) and the goal to establish a high standard of musical excellence in Saint Paul became their mission. In those early years solo recitals were the immediate major interest for this musical organization. In 1893, the International Artist Series was added to its programs, and the women began presenting some of the finest artists of the day, beginning with the renowned German pianist Adele Aus der Ohe
who played at Ford Music Hall (Fifth and St. Peter Streets) that same year. Before the turn of the century such celebrated artists as Josef Hofmann and Xaver Scharwenka
had played recitals in Saint Paul on this Series.
Throughout its history, efforts were made to present a very accomplished but lesser known emerging artist among the recitals of the established stars. This policy of what respected Saint Paul music critic John Harvey
called “venturesome conservatism” led to the debuts in Saint Paul of Louise Homer
in 1902, Vladimir Horowitz
in 1928, Isaac Stern
in 1943, Leontyne Price
in 1961, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
in 1955, Mstislav Rostropovich
in 1963, and Cecilia Bartoli
in 1996.
It is one of the oldest arts organizations in the country, predated by among a very few, the New York Philharmonic
and the Boston Symphony Orchestra
. The Schubert Club has brought virtually all of the world’s great recitalists to the Saint Paul stage—Jascha Heifetz
, Myra Hess
, Artur Rubinstein, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
, and Bryn Terfel
, to name only a few. Vladimir Horowitz
, Robert Casadesus
, Isaac Stern
, Yo-Yo Ma
and Beverly Sills
have each appeared under its sponsorship four times or more. Highlights from the twenty-first century include such stellar artists as Renée Fleming
, Joshua Bell
, Alfred Brendel
, Lang Lang
, and Anne-Sophie Mutter
.
In July 2010, Minnesota chamber music organization Music in the Park Series merged with The Schubert Club. Founded in 1978 by Julie Himmelstrup who continues to serve as artistic director, the Series is now part of The Schubert Club.
. The museum displays a selection of instruments, documents and music items from its collections in several gallery displays. Admission is free and interpretive guides are on staff to provide tours. The museum was completely renovated and reopened in the Fall of 2009.
The collections include:
The Schubert Club also has their weekly Courtroom Concerts that take place in one of the courtrooms within [Landmark Center] in downtown [Saint Paul]. This is a free concert series that features both local and national talent. These concerts are hosted by Schubert Club's composer-in-residence, Abbie Betinis, and runs from October to April every year.
Music in the Park Series presents six chamber concerts each season at the Saint Anthony Park United Church of Christ in the Saint Anthony Park neighborhood of Saint Paul. Each concert features chamber artists of Minnesota, national and international prominence. Nearly sold out on subscription, this sought-after Series draws audiences from around the region.
The Schubert Club is a sponsor of the Hill House Chamber Concerts that take place in the James J. Hill House
.
Music in the Park Series Family Concerts presents three family concerts (two performances each) featuring world-class musicians. The concerts are set with chairs and rugs in front of the artists—makes it possible for the children, who sit on the floor, to be close enough to touch the performers! The intimate setting allows participants to have a close, personal relationship with the performers.
There are many other concerts presented by The Schubert Club throughout the year. The music presented is primarily classical.
competition for music students, provides after-school music lessons, presents master classes, commissions new musical works by composer
s, and produces recordings and books.
The Museum and the administrative offices are located in the historic Landmark Center
in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota
.
Mission
As Minnesota's first performing arts organization, The Schubert Club promotes the art of music — particularly recital music, through concerts, education and museum programs — and maintains a high standard of excellence.History
The Schubert Club was launched on an autumn afternoon late in the year 1882. Marion Ramsey Furness, daughter of Governor Alexander RamseyAlexander Ramsey
Alexander Ramsey was an American politician. He was born near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.Alexander Ramsey was elected from Pennsylvania as a Whig to the U.S. House of Representatives and served in the 28th and 29th congresses from March 4, 1843 to March 4, 1847...
, along with some music-loving friends, formed a club they called “The Ladies Musicale,” thus creating Minnesota’s earliest recital-presenting organization. While the first meetings were social gatherings for women who busied themselves with fancy work—with Club members often providing musical counterpoint—concerts, lectures and study groups were soon organized. Before long the name was changed to honor Franz Schubert (who had lived some fifty years before) and the goal to establish a high standard of musical excellence in Saint Paul became their mission. In those early years solo recitals were the immediate major interest for this musical organization. In 1893, the International Artist Series was added to its programs, and the women began presenting some of the finest artists of the day, beginning with the renowned German pianist Adele Aus der Ohe
Adele Aus der Ohe
Adele Aus der Ohe was a German pianist and composer.Aus der Ohe was born in Hanover. She initially studied with Theodor Kullak, where American pianist and chronicler Amy Fay heard her...
who played at Ford Music Hall (Fifth and St. Peter Streets) that same year. Before the turn of the century such celebrated artists as Josef Hofmann and Xaver Scharwenka
Xaver Scharwenka
Franz Xaver Scharwenka was a German pianist, composer and teacher. He was the brother of Philipp Scharwenka , who was also a composer and teacher of music.- Life and career :...
had played recitals in Saint Paul on this Series.
Throughout its history, efforts were made to present a very accomplished but lesser known emerging artist among the recitals of the established stars. This policy of what respected Saint Paul music critic John Harvey
John Harvey
-People:*John Harvey , English stage and film actor*John Harvey , American actor*John Harvey , Retired National Football League running back...
called “venturesome conservatism” led to the debuts in Saint Paul of Louise Homer
Louise Homer
Louise Homer was an American operatic contralto who had an active international career in concert halls and opera houses from 1895 until her retirement in 1932. After a brief stint as a vaudeville entertainer in New England, she made her professional opera debut in France in 1898...
in 1902, Vladimir Horowitz
Vladimir Horowitz
Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz was a Russian-American classical virtuoso pianist and minor composer. His technique and use of tone color and the excitement of his playing were legendary. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.-Life and early...
in 1928, Isaac Stern
Isaac Stern
Isaac Stern was a Ukrainian-born violinist. He was renowned for his recordings and for discovering new musical talent.-Biography:Isaac Stern was born into a Jewish family in Kremenets, Ukraine. He was fourteen months old when his family moved to San Francisco...
in 1943, Leontyne Price
Leontyne Price
Mary Violet Leontyne Price is an American soprano. Born and raised in the Deep South, she rose to international acclaim in the 1950s and 1960s, and was one of the first African Americans to become a leading artist at the Metropolitan Opera.One critic characterized Price's voice as "vibrant",...
in 1961, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau is a retired German lyric baritone and conductor of classical music, one of the most famous lieder performers of the post-war period and "one of the supreme vocal artists of the 20th century"...
in 1955, Mstislav Rostropovich
Mstislav Rostropovich
Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, KBE , known to close friends as Slava, was a Soviet and Russian cellist and conductor. He was married to the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya. He is widely considered to have been the greatest cellist of the second half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest of...
in 1963, and Cecilia Bartoli
Cecilia Bartoli
Cecilia Bartoli is an Italian coloratura mezzo-soprano opera singer and recitalist. She is best-known for her interpretation of the music of Mozart and Rossini, as well as for her performances of lesser-known Baroque and classical music...
in 1996.
It is one of the oldest arts organizations in the country, predated by among a very few, the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
and the Boston Symphony Orchestra
Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Boston Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1881, the BSO plays most of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at the Tanglewood Music Center...
. The Schubert Club has brought virtually all of the world’s great recitalists to the Saint Paul stage—Jascha Heifetz
Jascha Heifetz
Jascha Heifetz was a violinist, born in Vilnius, then Russian Empire, now Lithuania. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time.- Early life :...
, Myra Hess
Myra Hess
Dame Myra Hess DBE was a British pianist.She was born in London as Julia Myra Hess, but was best known by her middle name. At the age of five she began to study the piano and two years later entered the Guildhall School of Music, where she graduated as winner of the Gold Medal...
, Artur Rubinstein, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, DBE was a German-born Austrian/British soprano opera singer and recitalist. She was among the most renowned opera singers of the 20th century, much admired for her performances of Mozart, Schubert, Strauss, and Wolf.-Early life:Olga Maria Elisabeth Friederike...
, and Bryn Terfel
Bryn Terfel
Bryn Terfel Jones CBE is a Welsh bass-baritone opera and concert singer. Terfel was initially associated with the roles of Mozart, particularly Figaro and Leporello, but has subsequently shifted his attention to heavier roles, especially those by Wagner....
, to name only a few. Vladimir Horowitz
Vladimir Horowitz
Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz was a Russian-American classical virtuoso pianist and minor composer. His technique and use of tone color and the excitement of his playing were legendary. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.-Life and early...
, Robert Casadesus
Robert Casadesus
Robert Casadesus was a renowned 20th-century French pianist and composer. He was the most prominent member of a famous musical family, being the nephew of Henri Casadesus and Marius Casadesus, husband of Gaby Casadesus, and father of Jean Casadesus.-Biography:Robert Casadesus was born in Paris...
, Isaac Stern
Isaac Stern
Isaac Stern was a Ukrainian-born violinist. He was renowned for his recordings and for discovering new musical talent.-Biography:Isaac Stern was born into a Jewish family in Kremenets, Ukraine. He was fourteen months old when his family moved to San Francisco...
, Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...
and Beverly Sills
Beverly Sills
Beverly Sills was an American operatic soprano whose peak career was between the 1950s and 1970s. In her prime she was the only real rival to Joan Sutherland as the leading bel canto stylist...
have each appeared under its sponsorship four times or more. Highlights from the twenty-first century include such stellar artists as Renée Fleming
Renée Fleming
Renée Fleming is an American soprano specializing in opera and lieder. Fleming has a full lyric soprano voice.Fleming has performed coloratura, lyric, and lighter spinto soprano repertoires. She has sung roles in Italian, German, French, Czech, and Russian, aside from her native English. She also...
, Joshua Bell
Joshua Bell
Joshua David Bell is an American Grammy Award-winning violinist.-Childhood:Bell was born in Bloomington, Indiana, United States, the son of a psychologist and a therapist. Bell's father is the late Alan P...
, Alfred Brendel
Alfred Brendel
Alfred Brendel KBE is an Austrian pianist, born in Czechoslovakia and a resident of the United Kingdom. He is also a poet and author.-Biography:...
, Lang Lang
Lang Lang
Lang Lang may refer to:* Lang Lang , Chinese pianist* Lang Lang, Victoria, a town in Australia* Lang Lang River, a river in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia* A character from the Japanese manga Steam Detectives-See also:...
, and Anne-Sophie Mutter
Anne-Sophie Mutter
Anne-Sophie Mutter is a German violinist.- Early life :Mutter was born in Rheinfelden, Germany. She began playing the piano at age five, and shortly afterwards took up the violin, studying with Erna Honigberger, a pupil of Carl Flesch...
.
In July 2010, Minnesota chamber music organization Music in the Park Series merged with The Schubert Club. Founded in 1978 by Julie Himmelstrup who continues to serve as artistic director, the Series is now part of The Schubert Club.
The Schubert Club Museum
The Schubert Club operates the Schubert Club Museum which is located on the second floor of the Landmark CenterLandmark Center (St. Paul)
St. Paul’s historic Landmark Center, completed in 1902, originally served as the United States Post Office, Court House, and Custom House for the state of Minnesota. It was designed by Willoughby J. Edbrooke, who served as Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury Department in 1891-92...
. The museum displays a selection of instruments, documents and music items from its collections in several gallery displays. Admission is free and interpretive guides are on staff to provide tours. The museum was completely renovated and reopened in the Fall of 2009.
The collections include:
- Historic keyboard instruments, such as clavichordClavichordThe clavichord is a European stringed keyboard instrument known from the late Medieval, through the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical eras. Historically, it was widely used as a practice instrument and as an aid to composition, not being loud enough for larger performances. The clavichord produces...
s, harpsichords, organs and pianosPianosPianos is a two-story bar/restaurant/live music venue in the Lower East Side section of Manhattan at 158 Ludlow Street.Its stage attracts local and national alternative rock groups as well as DJs, though a more typical performance consists of smaller name local and touring acts... - The Gilman Ordway Manuscript Collection, which includes letters and manuscripts from composers and other important figures in music history.
- GamelanGamelanA gamelan is a musical ensemble from Indonesia, typically from the islands of Bali or Java, featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings. Vocalists may also be included....
- Musical Experimentation, which includes instruments by Arthur Ferris and Tenori-onTenori-onTenori-on is an electronic musical instrument, designed and created by Japanese artist Toshio Iwai and Yu Nishibori of the Music and Human Interface Group, Yamaha Center for Advanced Sound Technology. It consists of a screen, held in the hands, of a sixteen by sixteen grid of LED switches, any of...
Concerts
The Schubert Club presents the International Artist Series at the [Ordway Center for the Performing Arts] which consists of five internationally known classical artists. This series is sold mostly on subscription, but single tickets may also be purchased.The Schubert Club also has their weekly Courtroom Concerts that take place in one of the courtrooms within [Landmark Center] in downtown [Saint Paul]. This is a free concert series that features both local and national talent. These concerts are hosted by Schubert Club's composer-in-residence, Abbie Betinis, and runs from October to April every year.
Music in the Park Series presents six chamber concerts each season at the Saint Anthony Park United Church of Christ in the Saint Anthony Park neighborhood of Saint Paul. Each concert features chamber artists of Minnesota, national and international prominence. Nearly sold out on subscription, this sought-after Series draws audiences from around the region.
The Schubert Club is a sponsor of the Hill House Chamber Concerts that take place in the James J. Hill House
James J. Hill House
The James J. Hill House, in Saint Paul, Minnesota, was built by railroad magnate James J. Hill. The house, completed in 1891, is near the eastern end of Summit Avenue near the Cathedral of Saint Paul. The house, for its time, was very large and was the "showcase of St. Paul" until James J. Hill's...
.
Music in the Park Series Family Concerts presents three family concerts (two performances each) featuring world-class musicians. The concerts are set with chairs and rugs in front of the artists—makes it possible for the children, who sit on the floor, to be close enough to touch the performers! The intimate setting allows participants to have a close, personal relationship with the performers.
There are many other concerts presented by The Schubert Club throughout the year. The music presented is primarily classical.
Other activities
The Schubert Club runs an annual scholarshipScholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
competition for music students, provides after-school music lessons, presents master classes, commissions new musical works by 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...
s, and produces recordings and books.
The Museum and the administrative offices are located in the historic Landmark Center
Landmark Center (St. Paul)
St. Paul’s historic Landmark Center, completed in 1902, originally served as the United States Post Office, Court House, and Custom House for the state of Minnesota. It was designed by Willoughby J. Edbrooke, who served as Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury Department in 1891-92...
in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
.
External links
- Schubert Club - official site
- Schubert Club Museum - Schubert Club Museum
- Music in the Park Series Music in the Park Series