Tosca Kramer
Encyclopedia
Dr. Tosca Berger Kramer was a New Zealand
-born American
violin
ist and violist
. Kramer, along with her parents, was instrumental in bringing classical music
performance and instruction to the state of Oklahoma
.
Tosca Berger was the daughter of Kurt and Lucy Berger. Her father was an eminent conductor
and her mother an Impressionist
painter
. As a youth Tosca studied violin with Willy Hess
and Eugène Ysaÿe
, earning a Diploma from the Royal Conservatory at Sondershausen
in Thuringia
, Germany
. The young New Zealander quickly established herself as a solo concert artist. In the 1920s a U.S. tour by Berger, who was traveling with her parents, was suspended when Kurt Berger fell ill in Tulsa, Oklahoma
. During the time of his recuperation, Tulsa city leaders succeeded in persuading the Bergers to settle there. With the encouragement and cooperation of the enterprising Oklahomans, the Berger family established the Tulsa Philharmonic
, the city's first symphony orchestra
, and Tosca became a highly respected teacher of violin and viola, known for traveling statewide to give lessons. Among many noted musicians to come from her studio is Fredell Lack
, one of the leading violin virtuosi
and teachers of her generation.
Tosca married Adolph Kramer, a violinist and violin maker
as well as other string instruments, and the couple adopted four children. Throughout her adult life, Tosca Kramer continued to be a major force in Oklahoma's musical, cultural, and educational communities, performing as principal (first-chair) violist of the Oklahoma City Symphony, playing solo and chamber music
recitals on violin, viola, and viola d'amore
, and serving on the music faculties of Tulsa University, Oklahoma City University
, the University of Oklahoma
, and University of North Texas College of Music
. In her 60s, already a distinguished artist and pedagogue, Kramer returned to school and earned both Master of Music
and Doctor of Musical Arts
degrees from the Eastman School of Music
. She has been described as "perhaps in the history of Tulsa its most outstanding musician."
Tosca Kramer died in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at the age of 73.
She was survived by her 4 children Donald, Betty, Edi, and Susy. She was also survived by her mother (Lucy Emma Berger) who was 5 months from her 100 birthday.
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
-born American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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....
ist and violist
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
. Kramer, along with her parents, was instrumental in bringing classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
performance and instruction to the state of Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
.
Tosca Berger was the daughter of Kurt and Lucy Berger. Her father was an eminent conductor
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...
and her mother an Impressionist
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
. As a youth Tosca studied violin with Willy Hess
Willy Hess (violinist)
Willy Hess was a German violin virtuoso and violin teacher.-Biography:Will Hess was born in Mannheim in 1859. He was a student of Joseph Joachim and he also studied with his father, who was a pupil of Louis Spohr....
and Eugène Ysaÿe
Eugène Ysaÿe
Eugène Ysaÿe was a Belgian violinist, composer and conductor born in Liège. He was regarded as "The King of the Violin", or, as Nathan Milstein put it, the "tzar"...
, earning a Diploma from the Royal Conservatory at Sondershausen
Sondershausen
Sondershausen is a town in Thuringia, Germany, capital of the Kyffhäuserkreis district, situated about 50 km north of Erfurt. On 1 December 2007, the former municipality Schernberg was incorporated by Sondershausen....
in Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
, Germany
Germany
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...
. The young New Zealander quickly established herself as a solo concert artist. In the 1920s a U.S. tour by Berger, who was traveling with her parents, was suspended when Kurt Berger fell ill in Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
. During the time of his recuperation, Tulsa city leaders succeeded in persuading the Bergers to settle there. With the encouragement and cooperation of the enterprising Oklahomans, the Berger family established the Tulsa Philharmonic
Tulsa Philharmonic
The Tulsa Philharmonic was an American symphony orchestra located in Tulsa, OK. The orchestra was founded in 1948 by H. Arthur Brown who was principal conductor from 1948 till 1958. The orchestra played for 53 seasons...
, the city's first symphony 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...
, and Tosca became a highly respected teacher of violin and viola, known for traveling statewide to give lessons. Among many noted musicians to come from her studio is Fredell Lack
Fredell Lack
Fredell Lack is an American violinist. Noted as a concert soloist, recording artist, chamber musician, and teacher, she is retired from a position as the C. W...
, one of the leading violin virtuosi
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...
and teachers of her generation.
Tosca married Adolph Kramer, a violinist and violin maker
Violin making and maintenance
Making an instrument of the violin family may be done in different ways, many of which have changed very little in nearly 500 years since the first violins were made. Some violins, called "bench-made" instruments, are made by a single individual, either a master maker, or an amateur working alone...
as well as other string instruments, and the couple adopted four children. Throughout her adult life, Tosca Kramer continued to be a major force in Oklahoma's musical, cultural, and educational communities, performing as principal (first-chair) violist of the Oklahoma City Symphony, playing solo 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...
recitals on violin, viola, and viola d'amore
Viola d'amore
The viola d'amore is a 7- or 6-stringed musical instrument with sympathetic strings used chiefly in the baroque period. It is played under the chin in the same manner as the violin.- Structure and sound :...
, and serving on the music faculties of Tulsa University, Oklahoma City University
Oklahoma City University
Oklahoma City University, often referred to as OCU, is a coeducational, urban, private university historically affiliated with the United Methodist Church...
, the University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...
, and University of North Texas College of Music
University of North Texas College of Music
The University of North Texas College of Music, based in Denton, is a comprehensive music school with the largest enrollment of any music institution accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music, and the oldest in the world offering a degree in jazz studies...
. In her 60s, already a distinguished artist and pedagogue, Kramer returned to school and earned both Master of Music
Master of Music
The Master of Music is the first graduate degree in Music awarded by universities and music conservatories. The M.Mus. combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization with graduate-level academic study in subjects such as music history, music theory, or music pedagogy...
and Doctor of Musical Arts
Doctor of Musical Arts
The Doctor of Musical Arts degree is a doctoral academic degree in music. The D.M.A. combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization with graduate-level academic study in subjects such as music history, music theory, or music pedagogy. The D.M.A...
degrees from the Eastman School of Music
Eastman School of Music
The Eastman School of Music is a music conservatory located in Rochester, New York. The Eastman School is a professional school within the University of Rochester...
. She has been described as "perhaps in the history of Tulsa its most outstanding musician."
Tosca Kramer died in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at the age of 73.
She was survived by her 4 children Donald, Betty, Edi, and Susy. She was also survived by her mother (Lucy Emma Berger) who was 5 months from her 100 birthday.
Discography
Includes:- Music Of AndreaAndrea GabrieliAndrea Gabrieli was an Italian composer and organist of the late Renaissance. The uncle of the somewhat more famous Giovanni Gabrieli, he was the first internationally renowned member of the Venetian School of composers, and was extremely influential in spreading the Venetian style in Italy as...
And Giovanni GabrieliGiovanni GabrieliGiovanni Gabrieli was an Italian composer and organist. He was one of the most influential musicians of his time, and represents the culmination of the style of the Venetian School, at the time of the shift from Renaissance to Baroque idioms.-Biography:Gabrieli was born in Venice...
, with the Eastman Wind EnsembleEastman Wind EnsembleThe Eastman Wind Ensemble is an American concert band founded by Frederick Fennell at the Eastman School of Music in 1952. It is often credited with helping popularize wind music. Through the group, Fennell redefined wind ensemble to refer to a specific kind of wind band with only one player per...
. MercuryMercury RecordsMercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
Living Presence Series SR-90245 / MG-50245. (1961)
Sources
- Hill, Regina L. For My Children, Your Ancestors: http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/h/i/l/Ethan-C-Hill-KS/index.html
- Mercury RecordsMercury RecordsMercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
Collection: http://microgroove.jp/mercury/SR90245a.shtml - "NTSU Faculty Adds Kramer". Dallas Morning News, 16 October 1971.
- Rooney, Dennis. "Texas Heart". The Strad, January 1990.
- Social Security Death IndexSocial Security Death IndexThe Social Security Death Index is a database of death records created from the United States Social Security Administration's Death Master File Extract. Most persons who have died since 1962 who had a Social Security Number and whose death has been reported to the Social Security Administration...
: http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi?lastname=kramer&firstname=tosca&nt=exact