[Hazel Harrison; Born to Play: The Life and Career of Hazel Harrison (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1983)]
Following the mention of Frances Walker-Slocum by composer George Walker, Maestro John McLaughlin Williams has contributed to the conversation about Black Women who are concert pianists by providing a link to an article on Hazel Harrison:
“We should not forget about Hazel Harrison (1887-1969), a great pianist who performed with the Berlin Philharmonic. (She was my father's teacher.)”
“Classical Pianist Hazel Harrison
African-American Concert Performer
Jul 20, 2008 Anya Laurence
One of the first black concert performers in America, Hazel Lucile Harrison began piano lessons at the age of four in her home town of La Porte, Indiana, in 1887. Hazel Lucile Harrison was born in La Porte, Indiana, on May 12, 1883, and during her eighty-six years she accomplished a great deal in her musical career, even though there was racial predjudice everywhere she turned.
“Early Piano Studies
She began her studies in her home town at the age of four, and when she was eight she was playing in public for parties and dances. She was heard at one of these performances by local teacher Victor Heinze, a German, who, impressed with her talent offered to teach her. Heinze later moved his studio to Chicago and Hazel commuted for lessons. Many devoted patrons of music in Chicago deemed her to be 'Heinze's most accomplished student,' and she also received much encouragement from the black community in that city. In 1902 Hazel graduated from La Porte High School, and while she stayed at home preparing for a career as a concert pianist she also played for dances in La Porte and Chicago.
“First Public Concerts
In the spring of 1904 Hazel Harrison was invited to play with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra where she performed pianoconcertos by Grieg and Chopin under the direction of August Sharrer. The Berlin critics were extremely excited by her performance and declared her to be 'a musical wonder,' 'a virtuoso,' and 'a sensation.' This was remarkable praise for a young American girl who had received her musical education entirely in the United States.
“Hazel performed a recital at Kimball Hall in Chicago in 1910, and a plea was made by a music critic for financial assistance to allow her to go to Germany for further study. This came about and Hazel travelled to Berlin in 1911 for study with Hugo van Dalen, who later arranged an audition with Ferruccio Busoni, who contrary to his original vow not to accept new students agreed to teach her. When Busoni was away Harrison would be taught by the young Dutch pianist, Egon Petri, Busoni's assistant.
“Public Appearances
Harrison gave recitals in Kimball Hall in Chicago; Town and Aeolian Halls in New York City and Jordan Hall in Boston, but opportunities were few for this very talented black woman. Although the critic of the Washington D.C.Times said that 'She has today a technical equpment that is definitely that of a virtuoso, and her gift for pianistic address is vivid, urgent and eloquent,' she was not invited to perform with orchestras in concert halls...only at special places such as with the Minneapolis Symphony under the direction of Eugene Ormandy in 1932 at a concert at the Tuskegee, Alabama, Institute. She also played with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra during a convention of the National Association of Negro Musicians.”
The first page of Born to Play: The Life and Career of Hazel Harrison (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1983) can be read here:
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