Ellen Ballon
Ellen Ballon | |
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Theodore-Lafleur Bullock |
Ellen Ballon (October 6, 1898 – December 21, 1969) was a Canadian pianist.[1]
The daughter of Jewish Lithuanian immigrants, she was born in Montreal, Quebec. A child prodigy, she gave her first concert at the age of five and began studying music at the McGill Conservatorium with Clara Lichtenstein at the age of six.
In 1906, she moved to
She later began studying with Wilhelm Backhaus, who was in Vienna. Ballon toured Europe in 1927 and Canada in 1928. In 1934, she settled in London. She stopped performing for two years after she broke an ankle getting out of a cab in 1938.[1][3]
In 1945, she commissioned a concerto from the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. She gave the premier performance in Rio de Janeiro in 1946, followed by the American and Canadian premiers in 1947. For a short time, she taught at the Faculty of Music at McGill University, where she had established a music scholarship in her own name in 1928. Ballon appeared on the CBC television show Heure du concert.[3]
In 1954, she married Colonel Théodore-Lafleur Bullock.[1]
Ballon died in Montreal at the age of 71.[1]
Ballon was described by Arthur Rubinstein as "the greatest pianistic genius I have ever met".[3]
References
- ^ a b c d "Ellen Ballon fonds". Memory Nova Scotia.
- ^ "Dawn of New 'Golden Age' Opens Profitable Vista to Artists in Germany" Musical Courier 87(December 27, 1923): 5.
- ^ a b c McLean, Eric. "Ellen Ballon". The Canadian Encyclopedia.