Eugenia Argiewicz

Eugenia Argiewicz (16 June 1887 – March 1969), later Eugenia Argiewicz Bem, was a Polish violinist based in San Francisco, California for much of her career.

Eugenia Argiewicz
Eugenia Argiewicz, from a 1921 advertisement
Born16 June 1887
Warsaw
DiedMarch 1969
San Francisco
NationalityPolish, American
Other namesEugenie Argiewicz, Eugenia Argiewicz Bem, Eugenia Bem, Genia Bem
OccupationViolinist

Early life

Eugenia Argiewicz was born in Warsaw. Her father sold military uniforms. She started studying music as a small child, and trained with violinist Eugène Ysaÿe in Brussels.[1] Her brother Artur Argiewicz was also a violinist,[2][3] and sometimes they performed together.[4] Artur and their mother also moved to San Francisco.[5] Another brother, Bernard, was a professional cellist based in Detroit and Philadelphia.[6]

Career

Argiewicz performed in major European cities as a girl.[7] She moved to the United States in the 1910s. She was a soloist with the Seattle Symphony,[8] In 1917 she accompanied British cellist May Mukle when she performed in Sacramento,[9] and in the 1924–1925 season she played violin in the San Francisco Symphony.[2][10][11] "Mme. Bem is intense and emotional," commented one Los Angeles reviewer in 1918, "but plays with a musicianly manner and her style is fresh and invigorating."[12]

Argiewicz and her husband led the Stanislas Bem Little Orchestra,[7] which performed at San Francisco's Whitcomb Hotel;[1] they were among the first musicians to perform on KFRC radio when it began broadcasting in 1924, from the roof of the same hotel.[8] They also played in a chamber trio with pianist Vladimir Shavitch,[13] until she was replaced in 1918.[14] She also played ragtime music.[15]

Personal life

Eugenia Argiewicz married cellist Stanisław Bem in 1915, in San Francisco. They had a daughter, Vanda (1920-2008), who became a concert pianist and music educator.[16] Eugenia Argiewicz Bem was widowed in 1956,[17] and died in 1969, in San Francisco, aged 82 years.[1] Her granddaughter Gail Colman married San Francisco-based Spanish graphic artist Victor Moscoso.[18] Eugenia Bem's great-grandson Justin "Justo" Moscoso ran for a seat in Congress in 2000, as the Green Party candidate.[19]

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References
  1. "Argiewicz Eugenia". Virtual Shtetl. Retrieved 2020-05-14.
  2. Miller, Leta E. (2012). Music and Politics in San Francisco: From the 1906 Quake to the Second World War. University of California Press. pp. 61–62, 111. ISBN 978-0-520-26891-3.
  3. "Violinist Argiewiz dies at 85". Daily Independent Journal. 1966-05-11. p. 4. Retrieved 2020-05-14 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Argiewicz to Give Recital". The San Francisco Examiner. 1926-02-14. p. 50. Retrieved 2020-05-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Son Refuses to Assist Mother, 70, and Helpless". Oakland Tribune. 1922-12-09. p. 13. Retrieved 2020-05-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "B. I. Argiewicz, Musician, Dies". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 1955-12-09. p. 12. Retrieved 2020-05-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Violinist Acclaimed Abroad Coming Here". The Sacramento Bee. 1928-02-25. p. 14. Retrieved 2020-05-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. Hunt, Rockwell Dennis (1932). California and Californians. Lewis Publishing Company. pp. 496–497.
  9. Smith, Oenone (1917-05-07). "Saturday Club's Program Warmly Greeted". The Sacramento Bee. p. 16. Retrieved 2020-05-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "A Listing of All the Musicians of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra from its Founding in 1911". Stokowski. Retrieved 2020-05-14.
  11. Rothe, Larry (2011-07-22). Music for a City Music for the World: 100 Years with the San Francisco Symphony. Chronicle Books. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-4521-1024-0.
  12. "Mme. Bem's Los Angeles Success". Pacific Coast Musical Review. 34: 4. May 4, 1918.
  13. "Shavitch-Argiewicz-Bem Trio". Pacific Coast Musical Review. 34: 6. August 24, 1918.
  14. "Trio Makes Change in Personnel". The San Francisco Examiner. 1918-09-22. p. 68. Retrieved 2020-05-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. "Calling Violinist Names". The Spokesman-Review. 1915-01-10. p. 29. Retrieved 2020-05-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. "Vanda B. Colman". Marin Independent Journal. October 21, 2008.
  17. "Last Rites Held for Stanislas Bem, 68". The San Francisco Examiner. 1956-12-12. p. 55. Retrieved 2020-05-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. Whiting, Sam (2017-03-10). "Victor Moscoso had to unlearn what he'd learned in art school". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2020-05-15.
  19. "Voter Information for Justin "Justo" Moscoso". League of Women Voters. Retrieved 2020-05-15.
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