Alice Frisca Collection

The Alice Frisca Collection at IPAM contains a large suede-bound scrapbook and a document case, both filled with materials relating to the life and career of pianist Alice Frisca. Alice Frisca was the stage name for pianist Alice Mayer Kirsch, aunt of Harold C. Schonberg. The name “Frisca” was drawn from San Francisco, Frisca’s place of birth. Frisca studied with several renowned musicians, including pianists Pierre Douillet and Leopold Godowsky, and organist Clarence Eddy. As a concert pianist, she won the MacDowell Prize from the California Federation of Music Clubs, and was honored with a medal following a benefit concert she gave in Paris in 1921. Frisca played across Europe and the United States to favorable reviews throughout the 1910s, 20s, and 30s. She is cited by Harold C. Schonberg as his first piano teacher and a highly influential figure in his early musical development.