Harriet Serr

Harriet Serr (14 September 1927 - 30 April 1989) was an American pianist and music educator.

Life and career

Harriet Serr was born on  September 14, 1927, in New York City, New York. 

She started playing piano at a young age and debuted as a pianist at the age of nine in the New York Master Institute Hall with works by George Frideric Handel, Domenico Scarlatti, Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven and her own compositions. When she was 12, she performed at the Carnegie Chamber Hall in New York City.

Serr enrolled at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where she studied under famed Russian-born American pianist Isabelle Vengerova and graduated in 1951 with a Bachelor of Music degree.

Herr subsequently received numerous prizes, including the student prize, then later the Pennsylvania Federation of Music Clubs artist, the Philadelphia Musical Society prize, the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra young musician prize, and the special pianist award at the Steinway Competition. 

She performed in North and South America with symphony orchestras with such acclaimed conductors as Eugene Ormandy, Mishel Piastro, Frieder Weissmann, Joseph Barone, Mario Dicecco, Angel Sauce, Antonio Lauro, Primo Casale, Gonzalo Castellanos, Jacques Singer, Václav Smetáček, Hans Priem-Bergrath, Victor Tevah, Eduardo Rhan, Jorge Mester, Stanisław Wisłocki and Eduardo Marturet.

Her international appearances include her travels to New Zealand, where she performed with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and gave piano courses. While in New Zealand, she also made recordings for a radio program.

In addition to her work as a concert pianist, Serr worked intensively on teaching. She worked as an assistant to Isabelle Vengerova and was a piano professor at Douglas College at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey from 1953 to 1955. In 1955, the Venezuelan Ministry of Education entrusted her with special courses for piano in Caracas. The Venezuelan government awarded her the Andres Bello order for her services to the development of piano music. After her death, a Venezuelan piano competition, the Concurso Nacional de Piano Harriet Serr, was named after her.

Serr's students included Ramón Humet, Monique Duphil, Victor Hugo Alvarez, Arnaldo Pizzolante, and Karine Gil.

Death

Harriet Serr died on April 30, 1989, in Caracas, Venezuela.