Eudice Shapiro

American violinist and teacher Eudice Shapiro, the first female concertmaster of a studio orchestra, was born in Buffalo NY on 7 August 1914. She studied violin from the age of five, winning prizes from the age of ten, and first playing solo with the Buffalo Philharmonic when she was twelve years old.

Her teachers were Ivan Shapiro (her father), Gustave Tinlot and Efrem Zimbalist.

She appeared as an orchestral soloist with Eugene Goossens, Fritz Reiner, William Steinberg, Josef Rosensock, Igor Stravinsky and lzler Solomon, and played chamber music with Arthur Schnabel, Bruno Walter, Lili Kraus, Rudolf Firkusny, Jascha Heifetz, Gregor Piatigorsky, Zara Nelsova, Darius Milhaud and Leonard Pennaro.

Professor Shapiro made recordings on the Columbia Masterworks, Crystal, Vanguard and New World labels. She was a frequent adjudicator for international competitions and taught at masterclasses in the USA and the Far East. She played and taught at the Aspen and Flagstaff festivals, and was artist-in-residence at the Manchester (Vermont) and Fairbanks (Alaska) Music Festivals.

Her former students play in major orchestras and on college campuses throughout the world. She received the USC Ramo Music Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching, the ASTA Teacher of the Year Award, the Crossroads School Superior Teaching Award and an honorary doctorate from Northern Arizona University.

Eudice Shapiro died on 17 September 2007 at home in Studio City, aged ninety-three.