Donna Grescoe Explained

Donna Grescoe
Birth Date:27 November 1927
Birth Place:Winnipeg, Manitoba
Death Place:Richmond, British Columbia

Donna Grescoe (27 November 1927 – 17 August 2012) was a Canadian violinist and educator who was known as a child prodigy for her proficiency on the violin.

Grescoe was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba on November 17, 1927.[1] She began playing violin at five years of age after her parents bought a fiddle from a door-to-door salesman.[2] When she was 10 years old she received a scholarship to study at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago.[3] She later moved to New York City where she studied with New York Philharmonic concertmaster Mishel Piastro. She made her performing debut in the city at Town Hall in 1947 and went on to perform at Carnegie Hall on January 30, 1948.

Lyn Cook's book "The Little Magic Fiddler" (1951) recounts Grecoe's childhood in Winnipeg.[4]

Grescoe died August 17, 2012, at the age of 84 in Richmond, British Columbia.[5] [6]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Maley . S. Roy . Donna Grescoe . www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca . 18 July 2023 . February 7, 2006.
  2. Web site: Goldsborough . Gordon . Memorable Manitobans: Donna Grescoe (1927-2012) . www.mhs.mb.ca . 18 July 2023.
  3. Biography of Donna Grescoe: a Moden Fairy Tale . The Business and Professional Woman . March–April 1949.
  4. Book: Richter . Miriam Verena . Creating the national mosaic: multiculturalism in Canadian children's literature from 1950 to 1994. 195. 2011 . Rodopi . Amsterdam New York . 9401200505.
  5. Web site: GRESCOE DONNA . passages.winnipegfreepress.com . 18 July 2023.
  6. Web site: UCC Saddened by the Passing of Famed Canadian Violinist Donna Grescoe . www.ucc.ca . 18 July 2023 . 23 August 2012.