Born on February 22, 1898, Lucille Wallace was the only child of Edward W. and Caroline Craig Wallace. She was raised on Chicago’s North Side.
Following her completion of her Bachelor of Music degree at the Bush Conservatory of Music in Chicago, she was accepted to Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, where she pursued studies in English and history. A 1923 gradudate of the college, she then pursued a Vassar fellowship in history and music history at the University of Vienna from 1923 to 1924, and further studies at the Sorbonne in France from 1924 to 1925.
While studying with master pianist Artur Schnabel, she met her future husband and fellow pianist, Clifford Curzon (in 1928). They were married on July 16, 1931 in Paris, where they were both students of famed harpsichordist Wanda Landowska.
Like her mentor, Lucille (Wallace) Curzon went on to become a successful harpsichordist, concertizing across Europe during the 1930s and 1940. So well known and respected was she as a keyboardist that, on September 29, 1946 – the first broadcast day for the BBC’s new classical music station – she was invited to perform Bach’s “Goldberg Variations" for the radio station's evening program.
Retiring from the concert stage in 1950 to devote more time to her family, she also supported her husband's own brilliant career as a pianist.
Following a stroke in 1975, her health continued to decline. Knighted by Queen Elizabeth as Lady Curzon on January 1, 1977, she passed away in London on March 21, 1977, and was laid to rest at the St. Patrick’s Church cemetery.
Source: “Lucille Wallace ’23: Unsung Concert Harpsichordist,” in “Vassar Today,” in “Vassar: The Alumnae/I Quarterly.” Poughkeepsie, New York: Vassar College.
Following her completion of her Bachelor of Music degree at the Bush Conservatory of Music in Chicago, she was accepted to Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, where she pursued studies in English and history. A 1923 gradudate of the college, she then pursued a Vassar fellowship in history and music history at the University of Vienna from 1923 to 1924, and further studies at the Sorbonne in France from 1924 to 1925.
While studying with master pianist Artur Schnabel, she met her future husband and fellow pianist, Clifford Curzon (in 1928). They were married on July 16, 1931 in Paris, where they were both students of famed harpsichordist Wanda Landowska.
Like her mentor, Lucille (Wallace) Curzon went on to become a successful harpsichordist, concertizing across Europe during the 1930s and 1940. So well known and respected was she as a keyboardist that, on September 29, 1946 – the first broadcast day for the BBC’s new classical music station – she was invited to perform Bach’s “Goldberg Variations" for the radio station's evening program.
Retiring from the concert stage in 1950 to devote more time to her family, she also supported her husband's own brilliant career as a pianist.
Following a stroke in 1975, her health continued to decline. Knighted by Queen Elizabeth as Lady Curzon on January 1, 1977, she passed away in London on March 21, 1977, and was laid to rest at the St. Patrick’s Church cemetery.
Source: “Lucille Wallace ’23: Unsung Concert Harpsichordist,” in “Vassar Today,” in “Vassar: The Alumnae/I Quarterly.” Poughkeepsie, New York: Vassar College.
Born on February 22, 1898, Lucille Wallace was the only child of Edward W. and Caroline Craig Wallace. She was raised on Chicago’s North Side.
Following her completion of her Bachelor of Music degree at the Bush Conservatory of Music in Chicago, she was accepted to Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, where she pursued studies in English and history. A 1923 gradudate of the college, she then pursued a Vassar fellowship in history and music history at the University of Vienna from 1923 to 1924, and further studies at the Sorbonne in France from 1924 to 1925.
While studying with master pianist Artur Schnabel, she met her future husband and fellow pianist, Clifford Curzon (in 1928). They were married on July 16, 1931 in Paris, where they were both students of famed harpsichordist Wanda Landowska.
Like her mentor, Lucille (Wallace) Curzon went on to become a successful harpsichordist, concertizing across Europe during the 1930s and 1940. So well known and respected was she as a keyboardist that, on September 29, 1946 – the first broadcast day for the BBC’s new classical music station – she was invited to perform Bach’s “Goldberg Variations" for the radio station's evening program.
Retiring from the concert stage in 1950 to devote more time to her family, she also supported her husband's own brilliant career as a pianist.
Following a stroke in 1975, her health continued to decline. Knighted by Queen Elizabeth as Lady Curzon on January 1, 1977, she passed away in London on March 21, 1977, and was laid to rest at the St. Patrick’s Church cemetery.
Source: “Lucille Wallace ’23: Unsung Concert Harpsichordist,” in “Vassar Today,” in “Vassar: The Alumnae/I Quarterly.” Poughkeepsie, New York: Vassar College.
Following her completion of her Bachelor of Music degree at the Bush Conservatory of Music in Chicago, she was accepted to Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, where she pursued studies in English and history. A 1923 gradudate of the college, she then pursued a Vassar fellowship in history and music history at the University of Vienna from 1923 to 1924, and further studies at the Sorbonne in France from 1924 to 1925.
While studying with master pianist Artur Schnabel, she met her future husband and fellow pianist, Clifford Curzon (in 1928). They were married on July 16, 1931 in Paris, where they were both students of famed harpsichordist Wanda Landowska.
Like her mentor, Lucille (Wallace) Curzon went on to become a successful harpsichordist, concertizing across Europe during the 1930s and 1940. So well known and respected was she as a keyboardist that, on September 29, 1946 – the first broadcast day for the BBC’s new classical music station – she was invited to perform Bach’s “Goldberg Variations" for the radio station's evening program.
Retiring from the concert stage in 1950 to devote more time to her family, she also supported her husband's own brilliant career as a pianist.
Following a stroke in 1975, her health continued to decline. Knighted by Queen Elizabeth as Lady Curzon on January 1, 1977, she passed away in London on March 21, 1977, and was laid to rest at the St. Patrick’s Church cemetery.
Source: “Lucille Wallace ’23: Unsung Concert Harpsichordist,” in “Vassar Today,” in “Vassar: The Alumnae/I Quarterly.” Poughkeepsie, New York: Vassar College.
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“Beloved Wife of Sir Clifford Curzon” and a quotation from Mozart’s "The Magic Flute": “Now hast thou overcome every danger.”
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