Ninon Romaine
American pianist
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Ninon Romaine Curry Zimmerman (March 17, 1883 – May 2, 1930) was an American concert pianist active in the 1920s.
March 17, 1883
Ninon Romaine | |
|---|---|
Ninon Romaine, from a 1923 publication | |
| Born | Ninon Romaine Curry March 17, 1883 Toledo, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | May 2, 1930 (aged 47) Srinagar, India |
| Other names | Ninon Romaine Zimmerman |
| Occupation | Pianist |
Early life and education
Romaine was born in Toledo, Ohio, the daughter of John Henry Curry and Mary N. Janes Curry. Her father was a physician.[1] She studied and performed in Germany and Russia during her youth.[2][3] She played at Pratt Institute in New York in 1903.[4] She studied with Robert Teichmüller in Leipzig, and had her Berlin debut in 1907.[5]
Career
Romaine was a concert pianist.[6][7][8] Before World War I, she was the guest of Count Zeppelin in a trip by zeppelin airship,[9] and received jewelry gifts from Czar Nicholas and Kaiser Wilhelm.[10] She entertained wounded men at hospitals in Europe during World War I.[11]
In 1920 she was a soloist with the Detroit Symphony,[12] and she gave a recital at New York's Aeolian Hall.[13] She toured in the United States in 1923,[6][14] and played in Europe in 1924 and 1925.[15][16][17] She played at a benefit concert in 1928 with baritone Lawrence Tibbett and violinist Carolyn Le Fevre.[18] "She brings bravura tone of such astounding volume and beauty, and again glissandi of such deft and thistledown like softness," according to a 1928 report that also mentioned her "titanic strength and gentle tenderness."[2]
Romaine joined the faculty of the American College of Music in Toledo in 1922.[19] She sat for portraits by several artists,[20][21] including Xander Warshawsky[22] and Richard Jack.[23][24] English composer Eugene Goossens dedicated a piano composition to Romaine.[25]
Publications
- "A Sermon on Sympathy" (1924, Musical Courier)[26]