Alice Frisca, born Alice Mayer (March 7, 1900 – January 24, 1960), was an American pianist.
Early life Alice Mayer was born in San Francisco,Walter Anthony, "Pianist of 17 Makes Her Debut A Big Success" San Francisco Chronicle (September 19, 1917): 8. via Newspapers.com the daughter of Benjamin Mayer and Eva Mayer. Her stage name was a reference to the city of her birth. In 1920, she won the MacDowell Prize from the California Federation of Music Clubs."Pianist is Winner of Contest for Artists" San Francisco Chronicle (May 9, 1920): 3. via Newspapers.com She was a student of Pierre Douillet,"Alice Mayer Praised at Pianistic Debut" San Francisco Chronicle (September 23, 1917): 7. via Newspapers.com Clarence Eddy, and Leopold Godowsky."Alice Mayer to Leave for Paris" Pacific Coast Musical Review (June 19, 1920): 9.
Career She made her Paris debut in 1920,"Alice Frisca Conquers Paris" Music News (December 24, 1920): 27. and was awarded a medal for a concert she gave in 1921 in Paris, a benefit for French and Belgian artists in need after World War I."Alice Frisca Honored For her Paris Concert in Aid of Artists" Musical America (February 13, 1921): 21. "She has a conspicuously neat and fluent technique," noted critic Alfred Kalisch, writing in The Musical Times of her London debut in 1921, "and a touch of no little charm."Alfred Kalisch, "London Concerts", The Musical Times (May 1, 1921): 340. Her New York debut a few months later drew similar critical appreciation,"Alice Frisca's New York Debut" Pacific Coast Musical Review (November 19, 1921): 52. though the New-York Tribune said that "Miss Frisca evidently mistakes force for brilliance," and said that she "more nearly resembled a noisy amateur than a professional pianist.""Alice Frisca Makes New York Debut in Recital at Aeolian" New-York Tribune (October 7, 1921): 8. via Newspapers.com
Personal life Alice Frisca married businessman Ralph Kirsch in San Francisco on December 28, 1922; she subsequently retired from her performing career.Harold C. Schonberg, Facing the Music (Simon & Schuster 1985): 15. Her husband's nephew, Harold C. Schonberg, was the Pulitzer Prize-winning chief music critic at The New York Times from 1960 to 1980; he cited her as his first piano teacher and an important early influence on his understanding of music.Allan Kozinn, "Harold C. Schonberg, 87, Dies; Won Pulitzer Prize as Music Critic for The Times" New York Times (July 27, 2003). Alice Mayer Kirsch died of a heart attack in 1960 while accompanying her husband on a trip to Puerto Rico.
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