Prudence Maria Neff (June 9, 1887 – December 23, 1949) was an American pianist and music teacher, based in Alabama as a young woman, and in Chicago for the rest of her career.

Early life

Prudence Neff was born in

Nebraska City, Nebraska Nebraska City is a city in and the county seat of Otoe County, Nebraska, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 7,222. The Nebraska State Legislature has credited Nebraska City as being the oldest incorporated city in th ...

, and raised in Chicago, the daughter of Anton Neff and Theresa Meyer Neff. Her father, who worked for the railroad, was born in Switzerland. At the

Chicago Musical College Chicago Musical College is a division of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois, United States. History Founding Dr. Florenz Ziegfeld Sr (1841–1923), founded the college in 1867 as the Chicag ...

, she studied piano with Glenn Dillard Gunn, and

music theory Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory": The first is the "Elements of music, ...

with Adolphe Brune and Felix Borowski. Her "All-American" education was a selling point for Neff as a performer during the 1910s.

Career

Neff was a concert pianist who toured the United States with

Hugo Heermann Hugo Heermann (3 March 1844, in Heilbronn – 6 November 1935, in Meran, Italy) was a German violinist. He studied the violin with Lambert Joseph Meerts at the Koninklijk Conservatorium (Brussels), Koninklijk Conservatorium in Brussels, and later ...

and

Maggie Teyte Dame Maggie Teyte (born Margaret Tate; 17 April 188826 May 1976) was an English operatic soprano and interpreter of French art song. Early years Margaret Tate was born in Wolverhampton, England, one of ten children of Jacob James Tate, a suc ...

. She taught piano at Englewood Musical College in Chicago as a young woman, and at the Southern School of Musical Art in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

. In 1914, she gave the first performance of Felix Borowski's ''Piano Concerto in D Minor'', with the

Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891, the ensemble has been based in the Symphony Center since 1904 and plays a summer season at the Ravinia F ...

. She also played with the Russian Symphony Orchestra of New York. In 1915, she won a Southern regional piano contest, held by the

National Federation of Music Clubs The National Federation of Music Clubs (NFMC) is an American non-profit philanthropic music organization that promotes American music, performers, and composers. NFMC endeavors to strengthen quality music education by supporting "high standards o ...

(NFMC) in Memphis. She represented the Birmingham Music Study Club at the NFMC national meeting in Los Angeles in 1915. "Prudence Neff has within a few years attained a degree of success rarely reached by the young aspirant to musical honors," said ''The Musical Monitor.'' She chaired the program committee of the NFMC in 1917, when its national biennial meeting was held in Birmingham. Also in 1917, she gave concerts on the lyceum circuit with her violinist husband. After her first marriage ended, she moved back to Chicago, and taught piano there at the Glenn Dillard Gunn School of Music. She appeared on vaudeville programs in 1919. She continued performing through the 1920s and 1930s, often as an accompanist; she also made piano roll recordings, and gave concerts for radio. In 1933 she directed a choir of 30 voices in Palos Park.

Personal life

In 1915, Neff married a fellow music teacher, Chicago-born Bohemian violinist Robert Dolejsi. They sometimes performed together in concerts. After they divorced, she married Wade H. Thomas; he died in 1933. She died in 1949, in Chicago, at the age of 62.Prudence Neff
''Pianola: Saving the Music of Yesterday''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neff, Prudence 1887 births 1949 deaths People from Nebraska City, Nebraska American pianists American women pianists American music educators