{{Infobox person | name = Muriel Kerr | image = Muriel Kerr (1911–1963).png | caption = Kerr pictured in 1929. | birth_date = {{Birth date|1911|01|18}} | birth_place = Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada | death_date = {{Death date and age|1963|09|18|1911|01|18}} | death_place = California, United States | occupation = Pianist, associate professor | years_active = 1928–1963 | spouse = Naoum Benditzky (married 1938) }} {{Short description|Canadian pianist and music instructor}} '''Muriel Kerr Benditzky''' (née '''Kerr'''; January 18, 1911 – September 18, 1963) was a Canadian pianist and music instructor with the Juilliard School and University of Southern California.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Keillor |first=Elaine |date=December 16, 2013 |title=Muriel Kerr |url=https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/muriel-kerr-emc |access-date=2026-02-18 |website=The Canadian Encyclopedia |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stevenson |first=Robert |date=2000 |title=Reviews: "More Papers, Articles and Talks by a Canadian Composer 1961–1994," by John Beckwith |journal=Inter-American Music Review |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=116–119}}</ref><ref name=":19" />
== Early life and education == Kerr was born in Regina, Saskatchewan to Lorence and Edith Kerr.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1938-04-04 |title=Pianist Weds |url=https://archive.org/details/EDJ_1938040401 |work=The Edmonton Bulletin |pages=6}}</ref><ref name=":19">{{Cite web |last=California State Archives |first=Sacramento |date=1963 |title=Muriel Kerr Benditzky Or Kerr, 18 Sep 1963 |url=https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGVW-LTQJ?lang=en |website=FamilySearch |series=California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800–1994 |via=California State Archives}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite news |last=Fairley |first=Lilian |date=13 May 1964 |title=Story of Regina Prodigy |work=The Leader Post |pages=53}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last=Parks Canada |date=2007-03-14 |title=2326 College Avenue, Regina, Saskatchewan, S4P, Canada |url=https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=7045 |access-date=2026-02-19 |website=www.historicplaces.ca}}</ref> Lorence was prominent in Regina's business community as the owner of Kerr Land Company, a real estate development business, and co-owner of the Kerr-Patton Coal Company.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=City of Regina |url=https://www.regina.ca/export/sites/Regina.ca/about-regina/regina-history-facts/.galleries/pdfs/Complete-Historic-Walking-Tour.pdf |title=Regina Heritage Walking Tours |publisher=Queen Elizabeth II Court |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-896348-60-5 |edition=4 |location=Regina |pages=40 |chapter=KERR/BRONFMAN RESIDENCE 2326 COLLEGE AVENUE}}</ref> During his lifetime, he was known as the developer of the "impressive" multistory Kerr Block on Regina's Scarth Street.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":8">{{Cite news |date=1 April 1960 |title=Former Reginan on US Faculty |work=The Leader Post |pages=7}}</ref> The house he built in Regina for his family in 1911, the Kerr Residence (2326 College Avenue), became a municipal heritage property in 2007, and remains on the National Historic Sites of Canada register as of 2026.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7" />
=== Education === Muriel Kerr began learning piano early in life and gave her first public performance at the age of seven, playing Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Masters |first=Richard |url=https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Encyclopedia_of_American_Classical_Piani/eEnREAAAQBAJ |title=Encyclopedia of American Classical Pianists: 1800s to the Present |date=2023-09-30 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing PLC |isbn=978-1-5381-7147-9 |pages=200–201 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Faunt |first=Colin |date=8 October 1976 |title=Views in Music |work=The Leader Post |pages=64}}</ref> Her grade school friends would later recall that her mother "kept [Kerr] to a stringent schedule of four to six hours of practice daily."<ref name=":5" /> Kerr was not allowed to play with friends outdoors until she completed her assigned study, which she would do "obediently, though not always happily".<ref name=":5" />
For a short time, she studied under Paul Wells in Toronto at the Royal Conservatory of Music.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schabas |first=Ezra |url=https://www.google.ca/books/edition/There_s_Music_in_These_Walls/4g8OCCWk5SQC |title=There's Music in These Walls: A History of the Royal Conservatory of Music |date=2005 |publisher=Dundurn |isbn=978-1-55002-540-8 |pages=41–42 |language=en}}</ref> Hoping to further Kerr's music career, her family relocated to the United States permanently in 1919.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":7" />
=== Musical education === In 1920, Kerr won a scholarship to study with Percy Grainger in Chicago for seven weeks over the summer.<ref name=":1" /> Kerr remained in Chicago for two years under the mentorship of Alexander Raab until Raab left for Europe in 1922.<ref name=":1" /> Kerr subsequently relocated to New York City to work with Ernest Hutcheson, studying privately for four years before serving as his assistant at Juilliard between 1926 and 1930.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Johnson |first=Vivian |date=January 1957 |title=Muriel Kerr |url=https://www.muphiepsilonlibrary.org/uploads/5/1/4/4/51444629/51-2_195701.pdf |journal=The Triangle of Mu Phi Epsilon |volume=51 |issue=2 |pages=36–37 |via=Mu Phi Epsilon Library & Archives}}</ref>
== Career ==
=== Concert pianist === In 1928, Kerr was among the first recipients of the Franz Schubert Memorial Award.<ref>{{Cite news |last=W.b.c |date=1934-12-05 |title=MURIEL KERR, PIANIST, APPEARS IN RECITAL; First of Schubert Memorial Prize Winners Plays Music of Schumann and Brahms. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/12/05/archives/muriel-kerr-pianist-appears-in-recital-first-of-schubert-memorial.html |access-date=2026-02-18 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> This afforded her an opportunity to record music for Victor Records, perform with the New York Philharmonic, and debut at the Town Hall.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kline |first=Donna Staley |url=https://www.google.ca/books/edition/An_American_Virtuoso_on_the_World_Stage/sq4QAQAAMAAJ |title=An American Virtuoso on the World Stage: Olga Samaroff Stokowski |date=1996 |publisher=Texas A & M University Press |isbn=978-0-89096-762-1 |pages=155 |language=en}}</ref> Kerr's 1928 recital with the Philharmonic was poorly received by critics, though her 1929 performance at the Town Hall attracted more positive reviews.<ref name=":1" /> For Victor Records, Kerr recorded two Scriabin Études.<ref name=":1" />
Kerr maintained a career as a concert pianist from the 1930s onward,<ref name=":1" /> performing under her maiden name during her two marriages.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":20" /> She embarked on her first European tour in 1948,<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal |date=1948-03-15 |title=Muriel Kerr Acclaimed |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_musical-america_1948-03-15_68_4/ |journal=Musical America |volume=68 |issue=4 |pages=2 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> and recorded compositions by Robert Schumann and Paul Hindemith for Victor Records in 1952.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1952-06-01 |title=COMMENT IN BRIEF |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1952/06/01/archives/comment-in-brief.html |access-date=2026-02-18 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
=== Teaching === In 1942, Kerr began teaching at Juilliard.<ref name=":1" /> She visited its first president, John Erskine, at his home throughout his 1949 recovery from a cerebral haemorrhage to play music for him.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Erskine |first=John |url=https://books.google.ca/books/about/My_Life_in_Music.html?id=CHUFAAAAMAAJ |title=My Life in Music |date=1950 |publisher=Morrow |pages=269–270 |language=en}}</ref> Her relationship with Erskine's successor, William Schuman, was not as positive.<ref name=":9" /> In March 1950, she resigned in protest after Schuman introduced a policy terminating the employment of older instructors such as Carl Friedberg.<ref name=":9">{{Cite book |last=Olmstead |first=Andrea |url=https://books.google.ca/books/about/Juilliard.html?id=YLQXrHGNlQUC&redir_esc=y |title=Juilliard: A History |date=1999 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=978-0-252-07106-5 |pages=154 |language=en}}</ref>
Kerr joined the faculty of the University of Southern California in 1955,<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |date=21 September 1963 |title=Muriel Kerr, Sask. Pianist Dead, 52 |work=The Saskatoon Star-Phoenix |pages=4}}</ref> and began serving as the director of the Punahou Music School in Honolulu in 1957.<ref name=":0" /> In the latter role, Kerr organized an annual festival of contemporary music and art.<ref name=":0" /> For her contributions to Hawaii's musical development, she was honoured by the Sigma Alpha Iota in 1958.<ref name=":0" /> She was also a member of Mu Phi Epsilon from 1956 onward.<ref name=":2" />
== Reception == Kerr's popularity with audiences occasionally eclipsed her estimation by critics, though she was consistently well received by her peers.<ref name=":1" /> Writing in 1957, Abram Chasins described Kerr as one of his contemporaries "whose abilities exceed their public recognition."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chasins |first=Abram |url=https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Speaking_of_Pianists/dZUsAAAAMAAJ? |title=Speaking of Pianists ... |date=1957 |publisher=Knopf |pages=161 |language=en}}</ref>
Throughout her lifetime, Kerr was regarded by the residents of her birth city and province as a source of pride.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":8" />'''<ref name=":10">{{Cite news |last=Cameron |first=Dan |date=20 January 1961 |title=In the Music World |work=The Leader Post |pages=18}}</ref>'''<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wallace |first=B. W. |date=27 April 1938 |title=Old Music Days: Saskatchewan Resident of Earlier Years Sends Interesting Reminiscences |work=The Leader Post |pages=4}}</ref><ref name=":11">{{Cite news |last=Cameron |first=Dan |date=7 January 1938 |title=Three Girls "Who Made Good" On Regina's Music Calendar |work=The Leader Post |pages=20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=30 November 1940 |title=West Has Given the Dominion Many Musicians |work=The Ottawa Evening Citizen |pages=21}}</ref> She featured often in the column of Dan Cameron, long-running music correspondent for the Regina-based ''Leader Post.<ref name=":11" />''<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 10, 2007 |title=Dan Cameron |url=https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/dan-cameron-emc |access-date=2026-02-19 |website=The Canadian Encyclopedia |language=en}}</ref>''<ref name=":12">{{Cite news |last=Cameron |first=Dan |date=6 January 1962 |title=In the Music World |work=The Leader Post |pages=11}}</ref>''<ref name=":13">{{Cite news |last=Cameron |first=Dan |date=14 February 1947 |title=In the Music World |work=The Leader Post |pages=4}}</ref> Cameron himself had assisted Kerr when she performed as a novelty "child pianist" across Saskatchewan in her youth''.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 10, 1924 |title=Social and Personal |work=The Morning Leader |pages=2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=21 October 1924 |title=Seats Now Selling for Muriel Kerr |work=The Saskatoon Daily Star |pages=7}}</ref>'' Throughout her career, he occasionally reprinted reviews sent in by readers from other newspapers about performances that had featured Kerr, but only the sections related to her.<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":12" /><ref name=":13" />
== Personal life and death == Kerr owned a Turkish Angora cat during the 1930s, which was a "constant companion" during her four hours of daily practice.<ref name=":14">{{Cite news |date=January 31, 1938 |title=Music Not Only Career But Hobby |work=The Saskatoon Star-Phoenix |pages=9}}</ref> Though she described music as both her career and principal hobby, she was also noted to enjoy bridge and ping-pong.<ref name=":14" /> While travelling, she enjoyed reading classic literature and biographies.<ref name=":14" />
In 1928, Kerr, then 17, eloped to marry Harry Fagin, a 21-year-old violinist and fellow Juilliard student.<ref name=":15">{{Cite news |date=7 April 1928 |title=Miss Muriel Kerr, Pianist, Elopes to Wed in Gotham, Parents are Kept in Dark |work=The Morning Leader |pages=1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Times |first=Special to The New York |date=1930-10-04 |title=MURIEL KERR STARS IN LISZT CONCERTO; Young Pianist Scores Triumph in Afternoon Program of Worcester Festival. PERCY GRAINGER IS HEARD He Gives "Spoon River" at "Artists' Night"--Part of Wagner's "Tannhaeuser" Presented. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1930/10/04/archives/muriel-kerr-stars-in-liszt-concerto-young-pianist-scores-triumph-in.html |access-date=2026-02-19 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name=":20">{{Cite news |date=1928-05-05 |title=JUILLIARD ORCHESTRA DELIGHTS THRONG; Foundation's Graduate School Repeats Two Score Potential Artists. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1928/05/05/archives/juilliard-orchestra-delights-throng-foundations-graduate-school.html |access-date=2026-02-19 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name=":16">{{Cite journal |date=1928-03-28 |title=Marriages |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_variety_1928-03-28_90_11/ |journal=Variety |volume=90 |issue=11 |pages=46 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> The marriage took Kerr's parents by surprise, though Ernest Hutcheson was aware of his students' intentions and kept their plan to marry a secret.<ref name=":15" /> To the justice of the peace who married them, Kerr and Fagin claimed to be aged 21 and 24 respectively.<ref name=":15" /><ref name=":16" /> They divorced in September 1937.<ref name=":17">{{Cite news |date=9 April 1938 |title=Music and Musicians |work=The Calgary Daily Herald |pages=26}}</ref>
During the 1930s, Kerr performed with the Gordon String Quartet, of which Russian-born cellist Naoum Benditzky (1901–1972) was also a member.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite news |date=1938-04-01 |title=MURIEL KERR BRIDE TODAY; Gordon Quartet Pianist to Be Wed to Naoum Benditzky, 'Cellist |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1938/04/01/archives/muriel-kerr-bride-today-gordon-quartet-pianist-to-be-wed-to-naoum.html |access-date=2026-02-18 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Zilberman |first=Yuri |url=https://www.google.ca/books/edition/%D0%A0%D1%83%D1%81%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D0%BA%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%80%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BD/s_iRDwAAQBAJ |title=Русская корреспонденция Владимира Горовица в архиве Йельского университета |date=2019-04-11 |publisher=ЛитРес |isbn=978-5-04-165157-2 |language=ru |trans-title=Vladimir Horowitz's Russian correspondence in the Yale University archives}}</ref><ref name=":17" /> They married in April 1938 and remained together until Kerr's death.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":17" /><ref name=":3" />
=== Death === Kerr died at her home in 1963 after suffering a fatal asthma attack.<ref name=":3" /> Her Schumann and Hindemith recordings were reissued in 1966 to fund a scholarship in Kerr's honour.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Thistle |first=Lauretta |date=2 July 1966 |title=Miss Caballe superb in zarzuelas |work=The Ottawa Citizen |pages=75}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Siskind |first=Jacob |date=27 August 1966 |title=Virtuoso! The Disappearance Of An Unlamented Breed |work=The Gazette |pages=16}}</ref>
== Notable students ==
* Fredric Myrow – composer of the soundtracks for ''Soylent Green'', ''Scarecrow'', and ''Phantasm.''<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Who_s_who_in_America_with_World_Notables/3g0OSwAACAAJ?hl=en |title=Who's who in America with World Notables: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women Vol 36 (1970–1971) |date=1971 |publisher=Marquis Who's Who |pages=1648 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=Variety |date=1999-01-19 |title=Fredric Myrow |url=https://variety.com/1999/scene/people-news/fredric-myrow-1117882734/ |access-date=2026-02-18 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref> * Michael Tilson Thomas – conductor, pianist, and composer.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-10-06 |title=Critic's Notebook: Michael Tilson Thomas returns to his alma mater, USC |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/blogs/culture-monster-blog/story/2009-10-06/critics-notebook-michael-tilson-thomas-returns-to-his-alma-mater-usc |access-date=2026-02-18 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ewen |first=David |title=Musicians since 1900: performers in concert and opera |date=1978 |publisher=H. W. Wilson Co |isbn=978-0-8242-0565-2 |location=New York |pages=882}}</ref> * Marilyn Neeley – Emmy Award-winning pianist.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Husarik |first=Stephen |url=https://books.google.ca/books/about/American_Keyboard_Artists.html?id=WJo7AQAAIAAJ |title=American Keyboard Artists |date=1992 |publisher=Chicago Biographical Center |pages=279 |language=en}}</ref> * Zhanna Arshanskaya Dawson – Russian-American pianist and Holocaust survivor; mother of journalist Greg Dawson.<ref name=":18">{{Cite news |last=Mitchell |first=S. |date=May 23, 1961 |title=Local Concert Pianist Receives Music Award |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/550347728/ |work=The Herald-Times |pages=5 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Kerr, described as Zhanna Dawson's "hero," played at the reception of Zhanna's wedding in 1947.<ref name=":18" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Dawson |first=Greg |title=Hiding in the spotlight: a musical prodigy's story of survival, 1941 – 1946 |date=2009 |publisher=Pegasus Books |isbn=978-1-60598-045-4 |location=New York |pages=247–260}}</ref>
== References ==
<references />
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, Muriel}} Category:1911 births Category:1963 deaths Category:20th-century Canadian women pianists Category:Canadian music educators Category:Juilliard School faculty Category:University of Southern California faculty Category:Musicians from Saskatchewan