Arminda Schutte facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Arminda Schutte
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Arminda Schutte
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| Born | October 9, 1909 |
| Died | May 5, 1995 (aged 85) Miami, Florida
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| Musical career | |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Piano |
Arminda Schutte (born October 9, 1909 – died May 5, 1995) was a talented classical pianist and a dedicated teacher from Cuba. She was known for her amazing piano skills and for helping many students become great musicians.
Contents
About Arminda Schutte
Her Early Life and Music Training
Arminda Schutte was born on a farm called La Merced, near Matanzas City in Cuba. Her family was well-educated. Her father, Julio Schutte, was from France. He made sure everyone at home spoke French, which helped Arminda later in life. Her mother, Ondina Visiedo, was a teacher. She really wanted her three children to do well. Arminda's two brothers became successful doctors.
When Arminda was young, her parents noticed she had a special gift for playing the piano. They made sure she got the best lessons. One of her first teachers was Flora Mora, who had studied with the famous composer Enrique Granados. Arminda later studied at the Municipal Conservatory of Havana. She played her first big concert in 1928. She performed Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No.1 with the Symphonic Orchestra of Havana. The orchestra was led by Gonzalo Roig.
Her Career in Cuba and Moving Away
For the next six years, Arminda played many concerts. She performed as a solo artist with the Symphonic Orchestra. She also gave recitals at important places like the National Academy of Arts and Letters. In 1936, she played the first-ever outdoor concert in Cuba. She was a soloist with the Symphonic Orchestra in the National Amphitheatre.
Around this time, she met the famous cellist Gregor Piatigorsky. He encouraged her to study even more to improve her piano technique. He suggested she go to New York City to learn from the amazing Josef Lhévinne. So, in 1937, Arminda left Cuba for New York City. She spent almost four years studying with Mr. Lhévinne and sometimes with his wife, Madame Rosina Lhévinne. Their lessons were in French because they didn't know Spanish, and Arminda knew little English at first.
Soon after arriving in New York, she played a concert on October 28. This concert opened the season for the Pan-American Center Society. Columbia University then invited her to play at their Institute of Spanish Studies. She also performed on General Electric's radio show, WGY, from Schenectady. There, she played the Piano Concerto No. 1 by Sergei Bortkiewicz, which was her favorite.
When she returned to Cuba in 1941, she started her own music school in Havana. It was called the Instituto de Arte Musical, Arminda Schutte. This school was officially recognized by the Ministry of Education. It could give out music degrees and diplomas. Arminda kept performing and teaching. She even became an Inspector of Music for the Ministry of Education.
In 1963, because of political changes in Cuba, she left the island with her mother. They went through Mexico to seek safety in the United States. She had to leave almost everything behind, except for a few music scores.
Life in the United States
After a short time in Mexico City, Arminda and her mother moved to Miami, Florida. They settled near her younger brother, José Antonio, and his family. This was a tough time for her family. Her younger brother passed away in 1965, and her mother died in 1966.
Arminda first stayed with family. Later, she moved into her own small home. She studied English and began giving private piano lessons. She became known in the large Cuban community in Miami.
She was asked to teach at the University of Miami, Florida International University, and Miami-Dade Community College. Between 1969 and 1971, she gave three highly praised solo concerts at the University of Miami. One of these was a concert featuring only music by Robert Schumann, her favorite composer. In 1980, when she was 71, she again performed the challenging Bortkiewicz Piano Concerto No. 1. She played it in a two-piano concert with Victor de Diego at Florida International University.
Arminda Schutte passed away on May 5, 1995, in Miami, Florida, at the age of 85. She is remembered as one of Cuba's most important pianists.
Her Musical Style and What She Played
Arminda Schutte was known for her amazing piano technique. She played with great skill and control, without showing off. She also had a deep understanding of music and a broad education in culture. Her music choices mostly included pieces from the Common practice period. This means she played music from the Baroque era (especially J.S. Bach), the Classical period, and the Romantic period. She loved the composer Robert Schumann, but she never performed his piano concerto.
For 20th-century music, she mostly played works by Debussy, Ravel, Granados, and other Latin composers. She also played music by Rachmaninoff and some pieces by Scriabin. However, she did not play the very modern styles of music from the Second Viennese School or the later works of Bartók. One of her favorite pieces to play as an encore was "The Musical Box" by Immanuel Liebich.
How She Taught Music
Arminda Schutte gave her students a strong foundation in music theory. She used a book called Théorie de la Musique by A. Danhauser. She also added other exercises for scales and harmonies. Her students learned Solfège, which is a way to read and sing music notes. This helped them sing music at sight and change keys easily.
She taught the principles of the Russian piano technique, which she learned from the Lhévinnes. This included everything from how to hold your hands and fingers to advanced exercises. She used studies by famous teachers like Isidor Philipp and Carl Czerny. Her students learned a wide range of music, including works by J.S. Bach, Classical sonatas, Romantic pieces, and 20th-century works.
Arminda knew music literature very well. She could easily tell if a student played a wrong note, even from across the room! Some of her students in the U.S. won national and international awards for their compositions. They performed on TV and radio. Many were accepted into top music schools like The Juilliard School, Indiana University, and the College-Conservatory of Music of the University of Cincinnati. Later, some of them became teachers at colleges and universities, including the New World School of the Arts.
See also
In Spanish: Arminda Schutte para niños
