Rachel Steinman Clarke (c. 1882 – November 4, 1944) was a Polish-born American violinist based in Chicago.

Early life

Rachel Steinman was born in

Włocławek Włocławek (; or ''Alt Lesle'', Yiddish: וולאָצלאַוועק, romanized: ''Vlatzlavek'') is a city in the Kuyavian–Pomeranian Voivodeship in central Poland along the Vistula River, bordered by the Gostynin-Włocławek Landscape Park ...

, Poland. Her family moved to the United States when Steinman was a child, and she was raised in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

, where she graduated from the Highland Park Conservatory of Music. She pursued further violin studies in Chicago and New York, and with

Jacques Thibaud Jacques Thibaud (; 27 September 18801 September 1953) was a French violinist. Biography Thibaud was born in Bordeaux and studied the violin with his father before entering the Paris Conservatoire at the age of thirteen. In 1896 he jointly won th ...

in Paris. Her sister Gertrude married actor

Raymond Walburn Raymond Walburn (September 9, 1887 – July 26, 1969) was an American character actor of stage and screen who appeared in dozens of Hollywood movie comedies and an occasional dramatic role during the 1930s and 1940s. Life and career Born ...

Career

Rachel Steinman was playing violin at Iowa events by 1900. She toured on the Chautauqua and lyceum circuits with the Midland Concert Company as a young woman, and as head of the Rachel Steinman Concert Company. She toured with her husband in the Edward Clarke Concert Company, from the 1910s into the 1920s. In 1917, for example, the Clarke company gave 142 concerts in 71 cities in 70 days, driving Clarke's Ford over 4,500 miles through Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin in the process. Clarke was a member of the Chicago Civic Symphony Orchestra, and on the faculty of the Lyceum Arts Conservatory of Chicago. She also performed for radio concerts. "Miss Steinman is an exceedingly artistic violinist, playing with perfect self composure and so easily and gracefully as to inspire confidence in her music," commented one Iowa reviewer in 1911. After moving to Florida in 1935, she was a member of the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

Symphony Orchestra.

Personal life

In 1913, Rachel Steinman married Charles Edward Clarke, a Canadian baritone singer, at a Baptist church in Chicago. She died in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, Florida in 1944.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Rachel Steinman 1880s births 1944 deaths Year of birth uncertain American women violinists Women classical violinists Polish emigrants to the United States People from Włocławek Musicians from Des Moines, Iowa Musicians from Chicago 20th-century American women musicians Classical musicians from Iowa Classical musicians from Illinois 20th-century American classical violinists