Carlo Buonamici

Carlo Buonamici (30 June 1875 — 30 September 1920) was an Italian-born American pianist and music educator who was chiefly active as both a concert pianist and piano pedagogue in the city of Boston from 1896 until his death in 1920.[1]

Life and career

Born and raised in Florence, Italy, Carlo Buonamici was the son of pianist and composer Giuseppe Buonamici.[2] He received his initial musical training from his father who was his principal piano teacher in his youth. He was trained further at the Würzburg Music Conservatory from 1891-1894 where he was a piano student of Henryk van Zeyl.[1][2] Van Zeyl had studied the piano with Franz Liszt.[3][4] Buonamici graduated from the conservatory in 1894 after winning the conservatory's first prize in piano performance.[1][5] He made his professional concert debut in Würzburg while a student in that city.[1]

In 1895 Buonamici returned to Italy where he served his required year of compulsory military service in the Italian Army. After completing his military duties,[1] He immigrated to the United States in 1896 where he ultimately settled in Boston.[2][1] He was a prominent piano pedagogue in Boston. In 1898 he co-founded the Fox-Buonamici School in Boston with the concert pianist Felix Fox.[6] One of his pupils was the pianist Margaret Cravens who was known for her close friendship with the poet and critic Ezra Pound.[7] Other students of note included concert pianist George Copeland,[8] the soprano and Juilliard School voice teacher Florence Kimball;[9] concert pianist, Vassar College professor, and founder of Chicago's Lake Forrest School of Music Marta Milinowski;[10][11] pianist and singer Erva Giles who had a career during the early years of American radio and made recordings for the Victor Talking Machine Company and Brunswick Records during the 1920s;[12] composer and pianist Grace Cotton Marshall who published her music under the pseudonym G. Marshal-Loepke;[13] and the concert pianist John Adams Warner; the latter of whom became a police officer after having a career as a concert pianist, ultimately serving as state superintendent of the New York State Police.[14] In addition to teaching at his own piano school, he taught music at Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut.[1]

Buonamici was active as a concert pianist in Boston for many years; performing in many recitals and concerts. He performed as a soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra on numerous occasions;[1] including in the 1901-1902 season when he performed Liszt's Hungarian Fantasy.[15] In 1908 he toured Europe as a concert pianist.[1]

Buonamici served in the Italian Army during World War I from 1916 until the Armistice of 11 November 1918.[2]

Buonamici died suddenly while at work at Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut on 30 September 1920 at the age of 45.[1][16]

References

1. "Obituary: Carlo Buonamici". The Musical Courier: 31. October 7, 1920.
2. "The World of Music: Carlo Buonamici". The Etude. XXXVIII (12): 793. December 1920.
3. Walker, Alan (1987). Franz Liszt: The Final Years, 1861–1886. Cornell University Press. p. 237. ISBN 0801484537.
4. Huneker, James (July 24, 2020). Franz Liszt. BoD – Books on Demand. p. 198. ISBN 9783752332209.
5. Emma Louise Trapper, ed. (1917). "Buonamici, Carlo". Musical Blue Book of America. Musical Blue Book Corporation. p. 161.
6. Waldo Selden Pratt, ed. (1920). "Fox, Felix". Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Volume 6. Macmillan. p. 209.
7. Pound, Omar S.; Spoo, Robert E.; Doolittle, Hilda (1988). Ezra Pound and Margaret Cravens: A Tragic Friendship, 1910-1912. Duke University Press. p. 5. ISBN 9780822308621.
8. "GEORGE COPELAND, A DEBUSSY EXPERT". The New York Times. June 17, 1971. p. 44.
9. Allen Hughes (November 26, 1977). "Florence Kimball Teacher, Dies at 87". The New York Times.
10. "Marta Milinowski". Duo-Art Music. 14 (4). The Aeolian Company: 10. January 1928.
11. "Marta Milinowski, Pianist And Vassar Professor, 85". The New York Times. October 6, 1970. p. 50.
12. "Giles, Erva". Who is who in Radio. ho is who In Radio, Incorporated. 1930. p. 29.
13. "Grace Cotton Marshall". Music Lovers' Cyclopedia. Doubleday. 1912. p. 860.
14. Blickstein, Edward; Benko, Gregor. "Ruckus in Rathskeller, 1899–1900". Chopin's Prophet: The Life of Pianist Vladimir de Pachmann. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810884977.
15. Thomas Tapper, ed. (June 1, 1902). "From Boston Concert Rooms". The Musical Record and Review. Oliver Ditson and Company: 73.
16. "Throng at Funeral of Carlo Buonamici". The Boston Daily Globe. October 4, 1920. p. 2.