Rita Wolfensberger (28 May 1928 – 22 February 2020 Bernhard Billeter

In the '' Schweizer Musikzeitung.'' 25 March 2020. ) was a Swiss pianist,

music educator Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do origina ...

and

music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...

Life

Born in

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; ; ; ; ), historically known in English as Shaffhouse, is a list of towns in Switzerland, town with historic roots, a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of Schaffh ...

, Wolfensberger studied piano with Elsa Burkhard at the

Zurich University of the Arts Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK, ) has approximately 2,500 students, which makes it the largest arts university in Switzerland. The university was established in 2007, following the merger between Zurich's School of Art and Design (HGKZ) and ...

. Afterwards, she completed the Diplôme de Virtuosité at the

École Normale de Musique de Paris The École Normale de Musique de Paris "Alfred Cortot" (ENMP) is a leading conservatoire located in the 17th arrondissement of Paris. The school was founded in 1919 by Auguste Mangeot and Alfred Cortot. The term ''école normale'' (English: no ...

and attended

master class ''Master Class'' is a 1995 play by American playwright Terrence McNally, presented as a fictional master class by opera singer Maria Callas near the end of her life, in the 1970s. The play features incidental vocal music by Giuseppe Verdi, Giac ...

es at the

Accademia Musicale Chigiana The Accademia Musicale Chigiana (''English'': Chigiana Musical Academy) is a music institute in Siena, Italy. It was founded by Count Guido Chigi-Saracini in 1932 as an international centre for advanced musical studies. It organises Master Class ...

in Siena. In addition, she studied piano with

Guido Agosti Guido Agosti (11 August 19012 June 1989) was an Italian pianist and piano teacher. Agosti was born in Forlì in 1901. He studied piano with Ferruccio Busoni, Bruno Mugellini and Filippo Ivaldi, earning his diploma at age 13. He studied counter ...

and

Anna Hirzel-Langenhan Anna Hirzel-Langenhan (20 August 1874 – 15 December 1951) was a Swiss pianist and music educator. Life Born in Lachen, Hirzel-Langenhan studied at the Zurich University of the Arts and in Vienna with Theodor Leschetizky and Anna Jessipowa. ...

as well as

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

with Barbara Vignanelli at the

Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia The Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia () is one of the oldest musical institutions in the world, founded by the papal bull ''Ratione congruit'', issued by Sixtus V in 1585, which invoked two saints prominent in Western musical history: Gre ...

in Rome. As a soloist Wolfensberger performed in Switzerland as well as in Italy and France. She played in the "Trio Motawo", Duo Wolfensberger (with her sister) and Trio Klemm. Wolfensberger was a reviewer at the ', the ''

Neue Zürcher Zeitung The (''NZZ''; "New Newspaper of Zurich") is German language daily newspaper, published by NZZ Mediengruppe in Zurich. The paper was founded in 1780. It has a reputation as a high-quality newspaper, as the German Swiss newspaper of record ...

'' and the '' Landbote''. She worked in the Swiss Music Pedagogic Association (SMPV). From 1962 she was a member of the board of directors and from 1983 to 1987 president and head of auditing of the ''SMPV Schaffhausen''. From 1977 to 1993 she was also a member of the board of the ''SMPV Schweiz''. Simon Burr
''Rita Wolfensberger: A life for music.''
In "Schaffhauser Nachrichten, 18 June 2008. She was state expert for diploma examinations of the conservatories in Zurich, Winterthur, Bern and Schaffhausen. The forum for contemporary music ''(Musica Viva)'' was under her direction. Since 1961 she was also a member of

Zonta International Zonta International is an international service organization with the mission of Building a Better World for Women and Girls, in support of Sustainable Development Goal 5. Alan Axelrod, ''International Encyclopedia of Secret Societies and Frate ...

. Wolfensberger died in her native hometown at the age of 91.

Publications

* ''

Clara Haskil Clara Haskil (7 January 1895 – 7 December 1960) was a Romanian classical pianist, renowned as an interpreter of the classical and early romantic repertoire. She was particularly noted for her performances and recordings of Mozart. She was als ...

. Mit Beiträgen von

Pierre Fournier Pierre Léon Marie Fournier (24 June 19068 January 1986) was a French cellist who was called the "aristocrat of cellists" on account of his elegant musicianship and majestic sound. Biography Pierre Fournier was born in Paris, the son of a F ...

Ferenc Fricsay Ferenc Fricsay (; 9 August 1914 – 20 February 1963) was a Hungarian conductor. From 1960 until his death, he was an Austrian citizen. Biography Fricsay was born in Budapest in 1914 and studied music under Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, Ern ...

Rafael Kubelík Rafael Jeroným Kubelík, KBE (29 June 1914 – 11 August 1996) was a Czech conductor and composer. The son of a distinguished violinist, Jan Kubelík, he was trained in Prague and made his debut with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra at the a ...

Igor Markevitch Igor Borisovich Markevitch (, ''Igor Borisovich Markevich'', , ''Ihor Borysovych Markevych''; 27 July 1912 – 7 March 1983) was a Russian composer and conductor who studied and worked in Paris and became a naturalized Italian and French citi ...

, Peter Rybar. EA.''

Scherz Scherz is a former municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Brugg (district), Brugg in Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau in Switzerland. On 1 January 2018 the former municipality of Scherz merged into the municipality ...

, Bern 1961. * ''Clara Haskil. Mit Beiträgen von Pierre Fournier, Ferenc Fricsay,

Joseph Keilberth Joseph Keilberth (19 April 1908 – 20 July 1968) was a German conductor who specialised in opera. Career Keilberth began his career in the State Theatre of his native city, Karlsruhe, joining as a répétiteur in 1925 and conducting from 193 ...

, Rafael Kubelik, Igor Markevitch, Peter Rybar.'' Second, revised and expanded edition, Scherz, Bern 1962.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wolfensberger, Rita 1928 births 2020 deaths People from Schaffhausen École Normale de Musique de Paris alumni Swiss classical pianists Swiss women pianists Swiss music educators Swiss women music educators 20th-century Swiss women educators 20th-century Swiss educators 21st-century Swiss educators Swiss music critics Women music critics Swiss writers about music Women writers about music Women classical pianists Accademia Musicale Chigiana alumni Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia alumni Zonta International people

Life

Publications

Further reading

References

External links