Clara Rockmore
pioneer of electronic music
Though electronic music was uncommon in formal music settings at the time, Clara Rockmore (9 March 1911 – 10 May 1998), the classically trained Lithuanian virtuoso with perfect pitch, performed as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Toronto Symphony with her theremin, one of the very first electronic instruments. She mastered the instrument and participated in its design, helping its inventor Professor Theremin fine-tune earlier models to improve range and precision. Wowing audiences around the world, she ushered electronic music to concert hall prestige. “I had to make – and then meet – my own standards; I had to win the public over into thinking of the theremin as a real, artistic medium,” Rockmore said.