Flori Gough Shorr
Flori Gough Shorr | |
|---|---|
 Flori Gough, from a 1917 publication | |
| Born | Florence Agnes Gough April 8, 1905 Honolulu, Hawaii. |
| Died | January 30, 1992 San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Cellist, music educator |
| Spouse | Lev Shorr |
Florence "Flori" Agnes Gough Shorr (April 8, 1905[1] – January 30, 1992) was an American cellist on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She played cello with the San Francisco Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and later in life played viola and cello with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
Early life and education
[edit]Gough was born in Honolulu and raised in San Francisco,[2] the daughter of James A. Gough and Margaret Kennedy Gough. She studied cello with Stanisłas Bem,[3] and began giving recitals as a girl.[4] She studied with Vincent d'Indy at the Conservatoire de Paris,[5] where she was the first American cellist to win the Premiere Prix, when she graduated with first honors in 1924.[6][7]
Her older brother Walter Louis Gough was a violinist and violin teacher in San Francisco.[8]
Career
[edit]
Gough played in recitals[9] beginning in the 1910s. "Her talent is still in the bud, but the color and texture of its full-blown perfection can easily be foretold," wrote a newspaper reviewer of her skill in 1918.[10] She was heard on radio concerts from the 1920s.[3][11] From 1929 to 1934, Gough was head of the cello department at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.[12][13] She performed with the San Francisco Symphony[14] and the Abas Quartet.[15][16] She gave her New York debut accompanied by her pianist husband in 1934, in two concerts at Town Hall.[6][17]
Gough was based in Los Angeles in midlife. She played for NBC Radio,[18] with the Los Angeles Philharmonic,[19][20] and with the South Bay Civic Symphony.[21] In the 1960s, she played cello and viola with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. She toured with the Pittsburgh Symphony in 1966, in a program highlighting the women in the orchestra.[22] Her forced retirement at age 70 was one of the grievances in the Pittsburgh Symphony's musician strike in 1975; she played cello at the strikers' five-hour fundraiser concert.[23]
Personal life
[edit]Flori Gough married a fellow musician, Russian pianist Lev Shorr, in 1930.[12] Later that year, she fell seriously ill with pneumonia.[24] She was injured in a fatal car accident in 1932.[25] The Shorrs divorced in 1936.[26] She lived in Los Angeles in the 1940s and 1950s,[19][21] in Pennsylvania in the 1960s and 1970s,[22] and in Arizona in the 1980s.[8] She died in 1992, at the age of 86, in San Francisco.
References
[edit]- ^ Shorr gave various birth years in sources. The year is 1905 in the Social Security Death Index, and on her 1920 application for a United States passport; via Ancestry.
- ^ "Young Girl Cellist Will Give Recital; Isadora Dunan Coming to Home City". San Francisco Chronicle. 1917-11-11. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-03-13 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Cello Player will Feature KGO Tonight". The San Francisco Examiner. 1925-07-20. p. 6. Retrieved 2025-03-13 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Metzger, Alfred (December 1, 1917). "Flori Gough's Cello Recital". Pacific Coast Musical Review. 33 (9): 4.
- ^ "San Francisco". The Pacific Coast Musician. 18: 10. October 5, 1929.
- ^ a b History of Music Project (1940). Fifty Local Prodigies. The Project. pp. 62–63.
- ^ Mason, Redfern (1925-03-08). "Flori Gough Mourns Lack of Atmosphere, Opportunity in our American Cities". The San Francisco Examiner. p. 50. Retrieved 2025-03-13.
- ^ a b "Obituary for Walter Louis Gough". The San Francisco Examiner. 1982-12-20. p. 43. Retrieved 2025-03-13 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Recital of Sonata and Voice". The San Francisco Examiner. 1933-03-26. p. 28. Retrieved 2025-03-13 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Brown, Ray C. B. (1918-12-01). "Girl Excels in Her Playing of Violoncello". The San Francisco Examiner. p. 12. Retrieved 2025-03-13 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Famous Cellist Soloist on KGO Friday Program". Bakersfield Morning Echo. 1927-01-06. p. 7. Retrieved 2025-03-13 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Prominent Musicians Announce Engagement" Musical West 7(September 1930): 9.
- ^ "Flori and Leo Shorr to Give 'Half-Hour'". Oakland Tribune. 1932-09-04. p. 16. Retrieved 2025-03-13 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ San Francisco Symphony Orchestra (1928). Programme.
- ^ "Abas 'Cellist Coming". The News Tribune. 1936-10-10. p. 5. Retrieved 2025-03-13 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Abas Quartet in Pasadena Concert". Los Angeles Evening Citizen News. 1937-02-06. p. 9. Retrieved 2025-03-13 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Music of the Day: Flori Shorr". Brooklyn Eagle. 1934-10-10. p. 26. Retrieved 2025-03-13 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Stars of the Radio" (PDF). Broadcast Weekly. 12 (19): 15. May 6, 1933.
- ^ a b "Dozen Women in Personnel of Philharmonic; Famous Orchestra Will Play Thursday Night at University". The San Bernardino County Sun. 1943-12-29. p. 10. Retrieved 2025-03-13 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Women See New Era in Orchestra". Los Angeles Evening Citizen News. 1944-07-04. p. 6. Retrieved 2025-03-13 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Civic Symphony Bows Tomorrow". Palos Verdes Peninsula News. October 15, 1959. p. 3 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
- ^ a b "Women in Important Role in Symphony Concert". The Terre Haute Star. 1966-03-31. p. 9. Retrieved 2025-03-13 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Croan, Robert (1975-10-14). "Musicians in Marathon; Emotional Evening of Music". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 10. Retrieved 2025-03-13 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Flori Gough Shows Gain". The San Francisco Examiner. 1930-11-30. p. 26. Retrieved 2025-03-13 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Woman Killed, 3 Injured When Car Goes Over Bank". The San Francisco Examiner. 1932-10-26. p. 11. Retrieved 2025-03-13 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Two Musicians are Divorced". Oakland Tribune. 1936-06-24. p. 7. Retrieved 2025-03-13 – via Newspapers.com.