Description

VERA BARSTOW (CELINA, OHIO JUNE 3, 1891 – LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA JUNE 10, 1975)

Vera Barstow was an American violinist and teacher. She made a three-month tour playing for troops in France during World War I. Vera Barstow was born in Celina, Ohio, but described as being from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  She trained in Europe. Luigi von Kunits was one of her teachers. Barstow had a busy performing schedule, beginning with appearances in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Boston, and New York in 1912–1913 season. In 1916–1917 her tour of Canada was interrupted by an emergency surgery in Toronto. In the spring of 1918, she toured Pennsylvania and Virginia, including a stop at Camp Lee with pianist Herma Menth, to play for American troops during World War I. She and Menth played gave further concerts for troops at Ellis Island and Camp Upton, working with the Stage Women’s War Relief Society and the Jewish War Relief Society. She went to France to entertain the troops there for three months in 1918–1919. She also fell ill in the 1918 flu pandemic while in France. Later in life, Barstow moved to southern California, where she taught private students in Pasadena and also at the California State University, Long Beach. Among her students were Akira Endo, Elizabeth Morgridge Mills, Arlene Gattuso, Stanley Ellison Plummer, and Eric McCracken. She also coached the string section of the Pasadena Symphony. She announced her retirement in 1962, but was still teaching in 1969. Isaac Stern was among the musicians performing at a gala concert in her honor in 1968, in Pasadena, with proceeds to fund a scholarship named for Barstow. Vera Barstow married William Pinkney Lawson; they had a daughter. Later she married John H. Meyers. She was widowed in 1935. She died in 1975, aged 84 years.

TRACKLIST

1. Ballet Music from Rosamunde (Schubert – Kreisler) Robert Gayler (piano) Edison 80573-L 7384-B
2. Jocelyn (Godard) Berceuse Arto Universal record 3048-B
3. Menuet (Paderewski) Robert Gayler (piano) Edison 80661-R 7909-G
4. Roses in June (German) Amy Ellerman (contralto) and Robert Gayler (piano) Edison 80654-R 7900
5. Sadko (Rimsky-Korsakov) Song of the Indian guest Lyric Record 1053-B 8203 B
6. Souvenir (Drdla) Lyric Record 1053-A 8202A
7. The angel’s serenade (Braga) Amy Ellerman (contralto) and Robert Gayler (piano) Edison 80662-R 7891-C
8. The last rose of summer (Flotow) Robert Gayler (piano) Edison 80661-L 7899-A
9. The Old Refrain Robert Gayler (piano) Edison 80573-R 7383-C
10. Viennese Popular Song (Kreisler) Robert Gayler (piano) Edison 80573-R 7383-C