Alice Schoenfeld, internationally renowned violin virtuoso and educator, Co-founder of the Alice and Eleonore Schoenfeld International Strings Competition and Schoenfeld International Music Society, passed away on 25 May 2019 in Los Angeles at the age of 98.
Alice and her cellist sister Eleonore Schoenfeld (1926-2008) were international music virtuosos and educators in the 20th Century who dedicated their life for music education. From 1959 they taught at the Thornton School of Music of the University of Southern California nurturing countless strings maestros. Some HKIMF judges were their students, including our Artistic Director, violinist Prof. Suli Xue, Cellist Prof. Frank Su Huang, Cellist Maestro Nathaniel Rosen who was also first Gold Medal winner at the Tchaikovsky International Competition.
The Schoenfeld Duo were pioneers of Sino-American music and cultural exchange in the 1980s. They recommended hundreds of Chinese gifted musicians for scholarships and donated their entire savings to establish the ‘Schoenfeld International Strings Competition’ in Harbin, China first introduced in Hong Kong in 2013, then in Harbin the following year. In 2017 the competition was recognized as member of World Federation of International Music Competitions under UNESCO.
They won worldwide recognition for their selfless contributions for Music Education. In 2012 USC Thornton named their newly constructed concert hall the ‘Alice and Eleonore Schoenfeld Symphonic Hall’ in honor of their legacy. HKIMF awarded them ‘Lifetime Achievement in Music Education’ in the 2016 third term to honour their outstanding music education achievements.
The Hong Kong International Music Festival express the deepest condolences and pay highest tribute to Prof. Alice Schoenfeld for her dedication to spread music beyond borders with love.
