Kathleen Parlow was a Canadian violin virtuoso of the late 19th and first half of the 20th century. She was born in Calgary on 20 September 1890. Parlow began taking violin lessons in San Francisco at the age of four and gave her first solo concert at six.
Until the age of 14, she studied with the English violinist and composer Henry Holmes, himself a pupil of Louis Spohr. Through Holmes's connections, Parlow was already appearing at venues such as Buckingham Palace and Wigmore Hall by the age of 15. In 1906 she travelled with her mother to Saint Petersburg to study with Leopold Auer, and that autumn she became the first foreign student of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. During her studies she gave recitals in Saint Petersburg and Helsingfors.
From 1907 Parlow began professional touring with an appearance in Berlin. By 1915 she had given almost 400 concerts, preparing a new repertory with Auer each summer. In 1907, at the request of Alexander Glazunov, then director of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, she performed his concerto at the festival in Ostend. She also appeared in the Netherlands, the Scandinavian countries, the United States, and Canada; in Scandinavia she received a Guarneri violin from a Norwegian patron. From 1912 she frequently performed with the pianist Ernesto Consolo.
Also in 1912, Parlow settled in Meldreth near Cambridge, which remained her permanent home between tours until 1925. After the First World War she toured the United States and East Asian countries. Her last solo tour took place in Mexico in 1929.
From 1926 to 1936 she lived in San Francisco, where she began teaching music in 1927. Until 1936 she taught at Mills College in Oakland, California, and from 1935 she also taught in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. From 1936 to 1940 she lived in New York. In 1939 and 1940 she gave a series of lecture-recitals in Toronto and was invited to join the teaching staff of the Toronto Conservatory.
During her years teaching in Toronto, Parlow continued to perform in concert, appearing in duo recitals with Ernest MacMillan, Leo Barkin, and Mario Bernardi, as well as with the Canadian Trio and the Parlow String Quartet, which she founded. In 1959 she became head of the string department at the Music College of London, Ontario.
Parlow died in Oakville, Ontario, on 19 August 1963. After her death, a scholarship in her name was established at the University of Toronto. Her artistry was noted for a strong and pure tone, soft legato, and ease in technically difficult passages. According to The Canadian Encyclopedia, her repertory was so broad that during her career she performed all of the major violin works written up to her time. Her legacy was further honored by later Canadian radio programs devoted to her life and recorded performances.
Connections
This figure has 1 connection in the Music Lineage catalog.