Clara Rockmore
type: Item
description: pioneer of electronic music
Type of information: Person
Field: sound, music and amplification
Wikidata source: Q271187
date of birth: 1911-03-09T00:00:00Z
country of citizenship: Lithuania
Date of death: 1998-05-10T00:00:00Z
context: 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.
Internal image: Clara_Rockmore_2.jpg
occupation: composer
occupation: musician
is used in theme: Women and technology (Theme)