Bella Shumiatcher (February 9, 1911 – 1990) was a Russian–Canadian–American pianist and music educator. She was the founder and director of the Shumiatcher School of Music in

Larchmont, New York Larchmont is a Village (New York), village located within the Town (New York), Town of Mamaroneck (town), New York, Mamaroneck in Westchester County, New York. Larchmont is a suburb of New York City, located approximately northeast of Midt ...

, and a faculty member of the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

, her alma mater.

Early life and education

Bella Shumiatcher was born on February 9, 1911, in

Gomel Gomel (, ) or Homyel (, ) is a city in south-eastern Belarus. It serves as the administrative centre of Gomel Region and Gomel District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it is the List of cities and largest ...

, Russia, the youngest of 11 children of Judah and Chasia Shumiatcher. Her father and brother homesteaded briefly in Rumsey, Alberta, before the rest of the family joined them in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

in August 1911. At age 10 Bella performed in a piano recital organized by the studio of John M. Williams and Shaylor Turner; her niece, six-year-old Minuetta Shumiatcher, also performed. Bella and Minuetta both went on to attend the

, while two of Bella's sisters, Fanny (Ziskin) and Sarah (Weiner), also pursued musical careers in New York. In 1932 Bella enrolled in a four-year course at the Institute of Musical Art, the predecessor to the Juilliard School, in New York City. She completed the program in two and a half years, graduating in 1935. She studied under

Egon Petri Egon Petri (23 March 188127 May 1962) was a Dutch-American pianist. Life and career Petri's family was Dutch. He was born a Dutch citizen in Hanover, Germany, and grew up in Dresden, where he attended the Kreuzschule. His father, a professi ...

, Ernest Hutcheson, Nadia Reisenberg, and Alfred Mirovitch at the Juilliard Graduate School. She studied

music education Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as primary education, elementary or secondary education, secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a rese ...

under Rosalyn Tureck and earned her teaching certificate at Columbia University Teachers College.

Musical career

Shumiatcher performed both in concert and on radio. She was the featured pianist at a December 11, 1938 concert at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

, performing a variety of musical styles. On January 25, 1959, she performed on a

WNYC WNYC is an audio service brand, under the control of New York Public Radio, a non-profit organization. Radio and other audio programming is primarily provided by a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations: WNYC (AM) and WNYC- ...

radio program titled ''Keyboard Masters'', and on April 22 of that year she appeared on WPIX-TV demonstrating "The Teaching of Theme and Variation Form".

Music educator

Shumiatcher founded and directed the Shumiatcher School of Music, a community music school in

. The curriculum included

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

and vocal music, and

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

. The school trained children ages 3 to 8 using the

Suzuki method The Suzuki method is a mid-20th-century music curriculum and teaching method created by Japanese violinist and pedagogue Shinichi Suzuki. The method claims to create a reinforcing environment for learning music for young learners. Backgroun ...

. The school presented free annual recitals featuring students and faculty. A January 1973 music festival at the

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, is located at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, in the Lincoln Center complex on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, New York City. Situated between the Metropolitan O ...

included a morning violin concert for children, performed by students of the school, and an afternoon piano recital for adults, presented by a faculty member. Shumiatcher was the soloist in a March 8, 1974 concert at the same venue, and performed in a June 7, 1976 concert. She also performed in a 1977 chamber music concert and a 1984 benefit recital, among others. Shumiatcher was a faculty member of the Juilliard School for 35 years. She was also on the faculty of

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

and taught at the

State University of New York at Purchase The State University of New York at Purchase, commonly referred to as Purchase College or SUNY Purchase, is a public liberal arts college in Purchase, New York. Established in 1967 by Governor Nelson Rockefeller, SUNY Purchase is one of 13 compr ...

Personal life

Shumiatcher married three times. She had a son and daughter with her second husband, Hy Abbey.

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shumiatcher, Bella 1911 births 1990 deaths Russian women pianists Russian classical pianists Canadian women pianists American music educators American women music educators Juilliard School faculty Juilliard School alumni Canadian people of Russian-Jewish descent People from Gomel 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American women pianists Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Canada Canadian emigrants to the United States