Otie Chew Becker
A young white woman in a white dress, standing; in her hands are the bow and neck of a violin.
Otie Chew, from a 1905 publication.
BornDecember 2, 1880
London
DiedJanuary 22, 1953
Occupationviolinist

Otie Chew Becker (December 2, 1880 – January 22, 1953) was an English violinist and music educator based in Los Angeles, California.

Early life

Otie Chew was born in London, and lived in Auckland, New Zealand as a girl.[1] Her original first name was possibly "Ottawa", based on Ottawa, Kansas, where her parents lived before she was born.[2][3] Her father James Chew was a clergyman.[4] She quickly showed musical potential. She received a scholarship to attend the Royal College of Music in Kensington at age 11.[5] She was a student of violinists Emile Sauret and Joseph Joachim.[6][7]

Career

Otie Chew, from a 1904 publication.

Chew's small stature was often contrasted with her powerful sound. "Although a veritable little doll as to stature, she has the biggest and most sonorous tone ever drawn from wood and catgut by one of her sex," proclaimed arts manager C. H. Gibbons that year.[4]"She is a very petite person and it is a source of wonder to all how one with a frame so small can bring such powerful harmonies to her loved instrument," noted the Los Angeles Herald.[6] Some early appraisals decried her youthful inexperience, as when New Music Review noted that "Miss Otie Chew played Brahms' violin concerto in an almost completely incompetent manner."[8] The New York Times had a similar opinion of Chew's 1905 American debut, concluding that "it would be a mournful task to enumerate the defects of her playing."[9]

In Los Angeles after 1905, Otie Chew Becker played with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, gave concerts and taught violin.[10][11] Her "sonata recitals" with pianist husband Thilo Becker were much admired in the Southern California arts community.[12]

Personal life

Otie Chew married Thilo Becker, an Australian-born pianist and composer in 1907.[6][13] They lived in La Crescenta, California. Thilo Becker died in 1944,[14] and Otie Chew Becker died in 1953, aged 72 years.[15]

As a young touring artist, Otie Chew was often photographed with her dog, Lutin.[16][6]

References

  1. ↑ Willey Francis Gates, ed., Who's who in Music in California (Pacific Coast Musician 1920): 14.
  2. ↑ "Miss Otie Chew" Springfield News-Leader (May 28, 1899): 5. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  3. ↑ "Death of Rev. James Chew" Evening Herald (December 7, 1900): 4. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  4. 1 2 "Otie Chew" New Zealand Herald (September 18, 1907). via Papers PastOpen access icon
  5. ↑ Doug Johnson, Finding aid, Albert and Elaine Atwood collection on Thilo Becker and Otie Chew, 1888-ca. 1984, UCLA Library Special Collections.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Beautiful Violinist Will Wed Composer" Los Angeles Herald (April 17, 1907): 5. via California Digital Newspaper CollectionOpen access icon
  7. ↑ "Joachim's Students" Joseph Joachim: Biography and Research (November 4, 2014).
  8. ↑ "Concerts of the Month" The New Music Review (January 1906): 640.
  9. ↑ "Philharmonic Opens its Concert Season" New York Times (November 11, 1905): 9. via ProQuest.
  10. ↑ Catherine Parsons Smith, Making Music in Los Angeles: Transforming the Popular (University of California Press 2007): 57. ISBN 9780520933835
  11. ↑ "Beckers in Los Angeles" Musical America (April 10, 1920): 36.
  12. ↑ "Thilo Becker and Otie Chew Becker" Pacific Coast Musical Review (October 16, 1920): 70.
  13. ↑ "Brilliant Musical Union" Los Angeles Times (April 21, 1907): 78. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  14. ↑ "Thielo Becker" New York Times (December 18, 1944): 19. via ProQuest
  15. ↑ "Otie Becker, Noted Music Teacher, Dies" dLos Angeles Times (January 24, 1953): 10. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  16. ↑ "A Notable Concert" Vancouver Daily World (February 9, 1907): 11. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
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