Alma Mehus
American pianist (1902–2001)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alma Mehus Studness (December 3, 1902 – April 9, 2001) was an American pianist in the 1920s, and an arts community leader in North Dakota through the mid-twentieth century. In 1995 she made a large donation to the University of North Dakota to create the Chautauqua Gallery in Devils Lake.
Alma Mehus | |
|---|---|
Alma Mehus, from a 1927 publication | |
| Born | December 3, 1902 Brinsmade, North Dakota, U.S. |
| Died | April 9, 2001 (age 98) Devils Lake, North Dakota, U.S. |
| Other names | Alma Studness |
| Occupations | Pianist, arts administrator |
Early life and education
Mehus was born on a farm near Brinsmade, North Dakota, and raised in Fessenden, the daughter of Mikkel K. Mehus and Anne Myking Mehus.[1][2] Both of her parents were Norwegian immigrants. Her family was musical; her father played violin, and her older sister Belle was Mehus's first piano teacher.[3] She won a statewide piano contest for high school students in 1919.[4] She studied at the American Conservatory of Music under Josef Lhevinne and Cora Kiesselbach, with Adele aus der Ohe in Europe,[5] and at the Curtis Institute of Music with Moriz Rosenthal.[6]
Career
To supplement her scholarship at the American Conservatory of Music, Mehus played piano at Chicago hotels and events. In 1922 she toured as a pianist on the Chautauqua circuit in the American West. She toured in Germany, Norway, and Italy, and was the youngest American to appear as a soloist with the Berlin Philharmonic, when she played a Tchaikovsky concerto there in 1924.[7] In 1925 she toured as a concert pianist in North Dakota. She toured the United States in 1926 and 1927,[8] and performed on radio concerts.[9]
After she married in 1929, Mehus taught music, and was active with her sister Belle in promoting the arts in North Dakota.[10][11] She was a member of the North Dakota Council of the Arts, and a founder of the Devils Lake Music Teachers Association. She was inducted into the North Dakota Hall of Fame in 1932. She continued giving concerts,[2][6] and she was a guest artist at the annual music festival of the North Dakota Federation of Music Clubs in 1934.[12]
Studness received the Governor's Award for the Arts in 1989.[13][14] In 1995, she made a major donation to the University of North Dakota, to open the Chautauqua gallery in Devils Lake.[15]
Publications
- "Lessons Under Adele Aus der Ohe" (1926)[5]
Personal life and legacy
Mehus married Leo Studness in 1929. They had a daughter, Anne-Marit,[14] and a son, Charles.[11] Her husband died in 1993, and Alma Studness died in 2001, at the age of 98, in Devils Lake.[13] Mehus, her sister, and her daughter were the subjects of a biography, Roses of the Prairie: The Artistry of Belle Mehus, Alma Mehus Studness, and Anne-Marit Studness (2019) by LaWayne Leno.[16]