NOTES:
AFB #828: Winifred Byrd, b. May 24, 1884 in Oregon, d. April 3, 1970 in North Hollywood, California, next of kin: Clarence Byrd of Salem, Oregon, other relatives: N. A. Byrd, 12744 Ventura Blvd, Studio City, California, Chapel of the Roses, interred IOOF on April 10, 1970.
1900 OR CENSUS Winnifred Byrd (b May 1884, Oregon) enumerated with father William H. (b Oct 1853, Oregon, married 10y, occupation physician), step-mother Margrette (b Sept 1864, Pennsylvania, mother of 2 children) and 2 half-brothers, Clarence (b Apr 1892, Oregon) and Donald (b Apr 1895, Oregon); also with family was a servant Nellie Roberts (b Mar 1880, Oregon)
REGISTRATION Winifred Byrd, born 24 May 1885, Salem, Oregon; arrived in Berlin, Germany, 28 Aug 1908 for study; registered as US citizen at the American consulate in Berlin 5 Sept 1908
DEATH Winifred Byrd born 24 May 1884, Oregon; died 3 Apr 1970, Los Angeles Co, California
BIOGRAPHICAL:
Compiled for Salem (Oregon) History Online, by Virginia Green (See: http://salemhistory.net/people/pwb01.htm)
"A reviewer from the New York Times said, "She is the Little Devil of the keyboard. She possesses a polished technique." Winifred Byrd also received high praise as a concert pianist from Walter Damrosch, conductor of the New York Symphony, who called her "the feature of the concert and one that will not easily be forgotten She seemed a fairy figure, clothed in a unique shade of blue, with an air and profile delightfully childlike, but an intensity and remarkable fire and passion in her playing."
This Salem-born musician was a small young lady but when her fingers flew over the 88 keys to energize the music of Chopin, Beethoven, Schumann or Liszt, it seemed as though sparks came from them. After her 1918 debut in New York, she traveled to other cities earning praise wherever she played. A reporter from Chicago wrote that her "fleet and accurate fingers [showed a] mixture of fire, delicacy, impetuosity of youth, excellent left hand, and singing tone."
In San Francisco she was named "one of the most brilliant to come out to the coast, displaying a piano technique that fairly carried her audience to their feet." In Boston, she was said to have displayed "a high order of musicianship, excellent tone, nice phrasing and nuancing."
Salem was a small town of 17,000 when Winifred was growing up, not a city where young musicians might expect to find superior training but this talented musician had her mother's memory to inspire her. Teresa Holderness Byrd received a music degree from Willamette University and taught piano until her death in 1886 when her daughter was two years old.
Winifred Byrd attended Salem schools and Willamette University for a year. She left Salem to study at the New England Conservatory of Music and then traveled in Europe for graduate study.
Winifred returned to Salem to perform in her hometown. On December 19, 1933 she performed at Salem's Capitol Theatre as a soloist with the Portland Symphony, conducted by William van Hoogstrattan. According to records of the day, tickets to the show cost fifty cents, $1.00, and $1.50. It was noted that a Steinway piano was used for the concert.
She also performed for Salem residents Elizabeth Lord, Alice Crary Brown, and Dorothy Pearce, a pianist in her own right. Alice Crary Brown lived at Bush House, taught music at Bush House. Boxes of her music are in the archives at Bush House Museum.
In the 1930s, Winifred moved to Los Angeles where she died in 1970 at age 86. Her niece, Martha Byrd Blau of Salem, recalled that her gifted aunt would play for her and her husband, Sandy Blau, when they visited in California.
The Oregon Journal newspaper of Portland summed up Winifred Byrd's Oregon appearances in the following review. (Her audience was) "composed of many of the music lovers and leading families of the metropolis. By her own genius and power she is entitled to approval in her own home state among her home people."
PHOTOGRAPH NOTES - Photograph of Winnie Byrd at Nye Beach and Hotel, 10 Aug 1915, courtesy of Bush House Museum, Salem Art Association Photo ID number bh0146. Description: "Nye Beach and Hotel, Oregon. Shows Doctor Fuller and Winnie Byrd in bathing suits in front of the car. The hotel in the background is Nye Beach Hotel".
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OBITUARY:
Miss Winifred Byrd, 85, formerly of Salem, died Friday in her North Hollywood, Calif, home. Born and raised in Salem, she graduated from Olivet College in Michigan and had studied piano in Germany. She had performed many concerts while touring. Surviving are two brothers, Clarence M., Salem and Dr Donald W., Hillsboro. Services will be in California. Interment will be later in City View Cemetery, Salem.
Capital Journal, Saturday, April 4, 1970, page 16
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