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The Ameican harpsichordist, Lucille Gruber, began at age 3 her music studies at the Third Street Music Settlement in New York City later attending the High School of Music and Art. A growing interest in music composition eventually led her to Brandeis University where she studied composition and music theory with Harold Shapero, Arthur Berger and Leonard Bernstein earning a Bachelor of Arts degree and Master's degree in Music Composition (Class of 1955). It was her interest in improvisation that attracted her to the harpsichord and a new graduate program in baroque performance practice at Case Western Reserve University where she earned a DMA (Doctor of Musical Arts) from The Cleveland Institute of Music and Case Western University.
A year abroad with her family made it possible for Lucille Gruber to study with Gustav Leonhardt in the Netherlands and to perform throughout France. On her return to the USA, she made her New York debut at Alice Tully Hall and subsequently performed at Carnegie Recital Hall (Weill) where she was acknowledged by the New York Times as “A musician who commands both her instrument and its repertory”. The New York Times review of a second recital at Weill Recital Hall two years later praised her “fire, spontaneity and ebullient wit”.
Lucille Gruber has led a multi-faceted career as a teacher, composer, performer and arts presenter. As the Director of Cultural Arts for Cuyahoga Community College for 25 years, she initiated a range of multi-cultural arts programs including a highly praised noontime series which attracted thousands of people to the theaters in downtown Cleveland. In that capacity, she worked with an array of cultural organizations leading the way for a Cleveland Festival Hispano, Indiafest and numerous other major cultural events in that city. For her work in the arts she was honored by the Ohio Presenter Network, Ohio Dance, Northern Ohio Live and other Ohio based cultural organizations.
Now a resident of Brooklyn Heights, Lucille Gruber is a grants consultant for New York's Chelsea Opera and a volunteer gardener in the Heights where she uses her talents as a pastry chef to raise money for the improvement of the Promenade gardens. |
