Alma Stencel
American pianist and musical prodigy (1888–1933)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alma Stencel (June 28, 1888 – July 22, 1933) was an American pianist and musical prodigy.
Alma Stencel | |
|---|---|
Alma Stencel, from a 1902 publication | |
| Born | June 28, 1888 Colfax, Washington |
| Died | July 22, 1933 (aged 45) Scarsdale, New York |
| Other names | Alma Stencel Weed, Alma Weed |
| Occupation | Pianist |
Early life
Stencel was born in Colfax, Washington, and raised in San Francisco, the daughter of Sigmund Stencel and Martha Stencel.[1][2] She was a piano student of Hugo Mansfeldt,[3] Emil Sauer in Vienna, and Leopold Godowsky in Berlin.[2]
Career
Stencel was considered a child prodigy in San Francisco.[4][5] She studied in Vienna and Berlin in 1900 and 1901,[6][7] and made her London debut in 1902, at age 14, at St. James' Hall.[8]
In 1904 she toured in eastern Europe and Russia with Czech violinist Jan Kubelik.[1][9][10] She played for Czar Nicholas II, Emperor Franz Josef, King Edward VII, and William Howard Taft during her concert career.[2]
Personal life
Stencel married mining geologist Walter Harvey Weed in 1914.[11] Their wedding took place a few months after Weed's first wife, suffragist Helena Hill, divorced him on grounds of infidelity.[12] They had a daughter, Almita Patricia Weed, born 1919.[13] Alma Stencel Weed died in 1933, in Scarsdale, New York, aged 45 years.[14][2]
