Peru will celebrate violinist Maud Powell’s 155th birthday with free downtown concert

Maud Powell’s 155th birthday concert is scheduled 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 21, at the Maud Powell Plaza in downtown Peru.

Performances are scheduled by Fiddlerock, Maria Sabotta, Kathy Jagiella, students of Constance Deal, students of Kathy Jagiella and students of Kevin Kramer.

The concert is free and it is organized by Music Suite 408 and the city of Peru.

Minne “Maud” Powell (1867 - 1920) was born in Peru, Illinois to Wilhelmina “Minnie” Bengelstraeter Powell and William Bramwell Powell.

Maud was around 7 years old when she started violin lessons in Aurora. It was soon discovered she was a prodigy. Within two years she was studying violin and piano in Chicago. Her parents sold their home to raise the funds for her to continue her musical education. While her father stayed behind in rented rooms, her mother and younger brother, William, traveled with her to Europe. She studied in Germany and Paris, where she placed first on the entrance exam.

Her debut with the Berlin Philharmonic occurred when she was 18. Later, she returned to the United States where she played at the New York Philharmonic and Carnegie Hall. At the turn of the 20th century, classical music in America was scoffed at by Europeans. But Powell became the first American-born violinist — man or woman — to change that by winning over European audiences. She toured, playing her violin for audiences across the U.S.

Maud Powell thought nothing of taking risks and of going where no one had dared to venture before — particularly a woman. She faced many challenges and smashed many barriers in her life. She was also a powerful advocate for music by Americans, women, and black composers. She was also the first American violinist to achieve international rank and the first solo instrumentalist to record for the Victor Talking Machine Company’s Celebrity Artist series. Powell recognized the recording technology’s potential to aid in her mission to bring the best in classical music to people everywhere. She recorded prolifically from 1904 until her untimely death at 52 in 1920. Powell pioneered the violin recital in America and championed music composed by women and by Americans alongside the music of Europeans. She premiered the Tchaikovsky and Sibelius violin concertos in America when other violinists balked at their difficulties. She was among the first white instrumentalists to integrate the works of composers of African descent into recitals and recordings.

She was posthumously awarded a 2014 Grammy Special Merit Award for Lifetime Achievement Award on Jan. 25, 2014.