Frieda Belinfante: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Crossdressing Jewish lesbian, cellist, philharmonic conductor and Dutch resistance fighter}}

 

==Genealogy==

==Early career==

Belinfante was born into a musical family. Her father, Aron, was a prominent pianist and teacher in Amsterdam who was the first pianist to present the entire cycle of [[Beethoven piano sonatas]] during a single season in the Amsterdam [[Concertgebouw, Amsterdam|Concertgebouw]]. Belinfante began her study of the cello at age 10. She graduated from the [[Amsterdam Conservatory]] and made her professional debut in the ''Kleine Zaal'' recital hall of the Concertgebouw at age 17, assisted at the piano by her father. Her father died a few months after. Following her debut, Belinfante studied intermittently with cellist [[Gérard Hekking]] in Paris, with whom she developed a close friendship.<ref name=muller>Muller, Klaus, "Interview with Frieda Belinfante", unedited transcript of the video recording, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 31 May 1994.</ref>{{rp|40}}

 

After directing high school, college and professional chamber ensembles for several years, Belinfante was invited by the management of the Concertgebouw to form ''Het Klein Orkest'' in 1937, a chamber orchestra for which she was to be artistic director and conductor.<ref name=woc>"Women of Orange County: Philharmonic Society Proposes Symphony Orchestra in County", Los Angeles Times, 16 May 1954 p. 16.</ref> Belinfante held this position until 1941, and it made her the first woman in Europe to be artistic director and conductor of an ongoing professional orchestral ensemble. Concurrently, Belinfante made weekly appearances as guest conductor on the [[Radio Netherlands Worldwide#Early days (Philips Radio)|Dutch National Radio]], and appeared as guest conductor with orchestras in the Netherlands and in Northern Europe. In the summer of 1939, Belinfante attended the master class of Dr. [[Hermann Scherchen]] in [[Neuchâtel]], Switzerland, to perfect her conducting skills. In recognition of her abilities, Scherchen awarded her first prize over 12 professional male conductors also enrolled in that class; the prize also included a debut engagement with the [[Orchestre de la Suisse Romande]] in [[Montreux]].<ref name=pasles87>Pasles, Chris, "Frieda Belinfante Honored : Cultural Pioneer Still a Voice for Excellence", Los Angeles Times, 19 Feb 1987, p. OC-E1.</ref>

The [[Netherlands in World War II|Nazi occupation]] interrupted Belinfante's musical career, which she did not resume until after the Second World War.

 

Belinfante became a good friend of the artist [[Willem Arondeus]], an openly gay man who was a leader of the [[Binnenlandse Strijdkrachten#Structure|Raad van Verzet]] (Resistance Council) in the [[Dutch resistance]]. She actively contributed to the resistance movement, mainly by forging personal documents for Jews and others wanted by the Gestapo. Together with Arondeus, she was part of the CKC resistance group that organised and executed the [[1943 bombing of the Amsterdam civil registry office|bombing of the population registry in Amsterdam]] on March 27, 1943, which destroyed thousands of files and hindered Nazi attempts to compare forged documents with documents in the registry.<ref>"Het begint met nee zeggen: biografieën rond verzet en homoseksualiteit 1940–1945" (2006), edited by Klaus Müller, Judith Schuyf.</ref>

 

[[Category:American lesbian musicians]]

[[Category:Lesbian Jews]]

[[Category:Dutch lesbian musicians]]

[[Category:Deaths from cancer in New Mexico]]

[[Category:Jewish resistance members during the Holocaust]]

[[Category:20th-century women musicians]]

[[Category:Jewish women musicians]]

[[Category:Jewish women activists]]