Olga Steeb Explained

Olga Steeb (born 1890 – December 29, 1941) was an American pianist and music educator, based in Los Angeles, California.

Early life

Olga Steeb was the daughter of Carl Egon Steeb and Sophie S. Steeb, both German immigrants living in Los Angeles.^[1] Her father, a French horn player, was said to have taught his daughter to memorize hundreds of compositions as a child,^[2] and she was performing in concerts by 1904.^[3] She studied piano with Thilo Becker.^[4]

Career

Steeb performed across the United States and in Europe,^{[5] [6] [7]} in solo performances and as part of the Griffes Group with mezzo-soprano Edna Thomas and violinist Sacha Jacobinoff.^[8] She was featured as a soloist at the Panama–Pacific International Exposition in 1915, in San Francisco.^[9] She made her New York debut in 1919, at the Aeolian Hall.^[10] Once, in 1921, she was called from the audience to the stage to perform a concerto with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, without rehearsal or advanced notice, when the scheduled pianist, Mischa Levitzki, was injured.^[11] She played at the Hollywood Bowl in 1922.^[12] In 1923, she played a radio concerts with retired violinist Lili Petschnikoff.^[13]

Steeb was head of the music departments at the University of Redlands from 1915 to 1919, and at the University of Southern California from 1919 to 1923.^[14] The Olga Steeb Piano School operated on Wilshire Boulevard from 1923 to 1942.^[15] Olga Steeb's piano students included Leonard Pennario, composer Elinor Remick Warren, composer Harry Partch^[16] and organist David Craighead.^[17]

Her sisters Norma Steeb and Lillian Steeb French continued running the piano school a while past Olga Steeb's death.^[18]

Personal life

Olga Steeb married twice. Her first husband was fellow musician Charles H. Keefer. They married in 1911^[19] and divorced in 1916.^[20] She married again in 1919, to Charles Edward Hubach, a vocal teacher who became her manager.^[21] Olga Steeb was a widow when she died in Los Angeles in late 1941, from cancer, aged about 55 years.^{[22] [23] [24]}

Notes and References

1. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15334199/sophie_steeb_1958/ "Mrs. Sophie Steeb"
2. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15334064/olga_steeb_1912/ "Olga Steeb's Offer Withdrawn Saturday"
3. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10642908/olga_steeb_concert_review_la_times_28/ "Music and Musicians: Olga Steeb"
4. https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=LAH19070113.2.96.46.2 "Olga Steeb, Pianist"
5. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15334033/olga_steeb_1910/ "A Marvelous Young Pianist"
6. https://books.google.com/books?id=pjg_AQAAMAAJ&dq=Olga+Steeb&pg=PA21 "Olga Steeb Playing Compositions of Dr. Carl A. Preyer"
7. https://books.google.com/books?id=f3I9AQAAMAAJ&dq=Olga+Steeb&pg=PA16-IA98 "Olga Steeb Triumphs in Long Beach"
8. https://books.google.com/books?id=pjg_AQAAMAAJ&dq=Olga+Steeb&pg=RA1-PA21 "Griffes Group in Fine Debut"
9. http://www.ppie100.org/the-performing-arts-at-san-franciscos-1915-worlds-fair/ "The Performing Arts at San Francisco’s 1915 World’s Fair"
10. https://books.google.com/books?id=7SIqQHZL2_wC&dq=Olga+Steeb&pg=RA16-PA25 "Olga Steeb, Pianist"
11. https://books.google.com/books?id=pjg_AQAAMAAJ&dq=Olga+Steeb&pg=RA12-PA49 "Rises from Audience to Perform Concerto"
12. https://books.google.com/books?id=N-U6AQAAMAAJ&dq=Olga+Steeb&pg=RA5-PA35 "Symphony Concerts in Hollywood Bowl Prove Great Success"
13. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18848310/lili_petschnikoff_1923/ "Two Renowned Artists on KHJ"
14. https://books.google.com/books?id=n7hEAQAAMAAJ&dq=Olga+Steeb&pg=RA5-PA11 "Olga Steeb with U. S. C."
15. K. Marcus, Musical Metropolis: Los Angeles and the Creation of a Music Culture, 1880–1940 (Springer 2004): 50.
16. Bob Gilmore, Harry Partch: A Biography (Yale University Press 1998): 43.
17. Tandy Reussner, David Craighead: Portrait of an American Organist (Scarecrow Press 2009): 14.
18. Catherine Parsons Smith, Making Music in Los Angeles: Transforming the Popular (University of California Press 2007): 311 note 26.
19. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10644867/olga_married_charles_h_keefer_9_jul/ "Cupid's Secret Will Not Keep"
20. https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=LAH19160720.2.187 "Composer to Lose Inspiration: Olga Steeb Asks Degree"
21. https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=LAH19190825&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1 "Olga Steeb, Noted L. A. Pianist, to be Bride of Teacher"
22. https://books.google.com/books?id=GwwEAAAAMBAJ&dq=Olga+Steeb&pg=PT28 "The Final Curtain"
23. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15334235/olga_steeb_1941/ "Death Takes Olga Steeb, Famous Concert Pianist"
24. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10645378/olga_steeb_obit_la_times_31_dec_1941/ "Noted Pianist Olga Steeb Dies"