Lubka Kolessa

Lubka Kolessa (* 19 May 1904 in Lviv, Ukraine - 15 August 1997 in Toronto, Canada) was a classical pianist and professor of piano.

Life

Lubka Kolessa came from a very musical family with some composers and a cellist from Lviv, at this time part of the Austrian Empire. Her uncle Filaret Kolessa was a noted musical ethnologist devoted to the research of Ukrainian popular music. Her cousin Mykola Kolessa was a prominent Ukrainian composer and conductor.

Her first lessons came from her grandmother, a pianist who had studied with a pupil of Chopin. In 1904 the family moved to Vienna. Her father Oleksandr Kolessa (1867-1945) had been elected as a deputy in the Austrian Reichsrat, the parliament of CisleithaniaHarald Binder: "Galizien in Wien: Parteien, Wahlen, Fraktionen und Abgeordnete im Übergang zur Massenpolitik. Wien: Verl. der Österr. Akad. der Wiss., 2005. ISBN 3-7001-3326-X.] .

In Vienna she studied at the Musikakademie Wien with Louis Thern and Emil von Sauer where she obtained her diploma in 1920 (16 years old). She played as a soloist with the best orchestras and conductors of Europe and soon had gained fame as a brilliant pianist.

In 1928 she undertook a triumphal tour to her homeland, the at this time Soviet Ukraine.Later in 1928 she recorded as the last classical pianist six pieces for Welte-Mignon (see media)Gerhard Dangel and Hans-W. Schmitz: "Welte-Mignon Klavierrollen - Welte-Mignon piano rolls: complete library of the European recordings 1904 - 1932 for the Welte-Mignon reproducing piano". Stuttgart 2006. ISBN 3-00-017110-X. p. 216 a. 464] . From 1929 – 1930 she studied again with Eugen d’Albert who had a strong influence on her style.

Kolessa went to England in 1937 where she married the British diplomat Tracy Philipps Encyclopédie de la musique au Canada. Online-Version [http://thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=Q1ARTQ0001870] retr. September 20 2007] . On May 21, 1937, Kolessa appeared on British television, playing a concert while wearing a Ukrainian folk dress George Kehler: "The Piano in Concert". Metuchen, N. J. [et alii.] : The Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-1469-2. p. 412.] .

1938 she went on a very successful tour through South America. Until 1939 she played on the European continent too and recorded a number of records for His Master's Voice in Germany.

On the summit of her career as a concert pianist she moved 1940 to Ottawa. She had numerous concerts including engagements with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.Since 1942 she taught at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, from 1955-1966 at the École de Musique Vincent-d'Indy in Montreal, for twelve years at the McGill University and 1959-1960 in New York City at the Ukrainian Music Institute as well as on the Conservatoire de Musique et d'Art Dramatique de la Province de Quebec.

She toured again in Southern- and Northern America and was one of the most searched pianist of the continent. In 1954 she ended her concert-activities to devote herself only to teaching.

Recordings

The Doremi label in 1999 released a set of three compact discs (DHR-7743-5) reissuing Kolessa's commercial recordings and some radio broadcasts, private recordings, and unissued recordings from 1936-1949. Works included range from two sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti to Beethoven's third piano concerto and Brahms's Handel Variations.

Sources

Media

Lubka Kolessa plays for Welte-Mignon in 1928 Frédéric Chopin: Mazurka No. 23 in D major Op. 33, 2 *Audio|KolessaChopin33 2.ogg|3627 kB

Persondata
NAME=Kolessa, Lubka
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Philipps-Kolessa, Lubka
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Canadian-Ukrainian pianist
DATE OF BIRTH=19 May 1904
PLACE OF BIRTH=Lviv, Ukraine
DATE OF DEATH=15 August 1997
PLACE OF DEATH=Toronto, Canada