Esther Allan facts for kids

Esther Allan was an amazing American musician. She was born on April 28, 1914, and lived until July 21, 1985. Esther was a talented composer, which means she wrote music. She was also a fantastic pianist and organist, playing both instruments beautifully.

Esther Allan's Early Life

Esther Allan was born Esther Boyarsky in a place called Suwałki, Poland. Her dad was a cantor, which is a person who leads songs in a religious service. Esther started playing the piano when she was just five years old. Her first piano lessons were with her own mother. Her family moved to England when she was very young. After that, they moved again to America.

Her Musical Career

Esther Allan started her music career in New York City. She played both classical music and jazz music. For example, she performed famous pieces by composers like Johannes Brahms and George Gershwin at Carnegie Hall. She was known for a style called "classical jazz," similar to what George Gershwin played.

In the early 1940s, Esther married Norman Allan. He owned a jewelry and department store. Esther wrote a special piece of music for him called Norman Concerto. This piece was for piano and orchestra and became quite popular. It helped her become known as a composer. After she got married, she used her new last name, Allan.

For a while, Esther worked as a pianist in an all-girl orchestra. This group was called Phil Spitalny's Hour of Charm Orchestra. She also played with another all-girl orchestra, "The Minoco Maids Of Melody."

Besides the Norman Concerto, Esther Allan wrote other short pieces for piano and orchestra. These included Ocean Rhapsody and Romantic Concerto. People said her music sounded like a mix of Sergei Rachmaninoff, George Gershwin, and the famous Warsaw Concerto. She also wrote Meditation for Piano, Harp and Strings. These pieces were like a tribute to her home country, Poland.

Esther often performed her own music with the Detroit Sinfonietta. This orchestra was led by Felix Resnick. They even released a vinyl album of their performances in the 1960s.

Esther also arranged many songs for piano and orchestra. She took classical pieces like Frédéric Chopin's Nocturne in C minor and Ludwig van Beethoven's piano sonata No. 17, "The Tempest" and made them her own. She also arranged popular songs like "Bethie's Theme" and "Enchantment."

She composed many short pieces just for solo piano. She wrote these to play in her own concerts. Esther also wrote about thirty songs and some chamber music. Chamber music is for a small group of instruments. One of her chamber pieces was "Autumn Nocturne" for piano and harp. She even wrote some larger pieces for a full orchestra.

Her Family Life

Esther lived in Detroit, Michigan with her husband and their four children. Her oldest child, Sally Allan Alexander, grew up to become a piano teacher. Esther often performed with local music groups in Detroit. She also hosted many classical piano concerts in her home.

Later Years and Death

Esther Allan passed away on July 21, 1985, in Detroit. She was 71 years old. She died from heart failure.