SBCMS History

A word about our founder, Ruth Breytspraak, a native of Chicago. With both father and maternal grandfather professional musicians, she grew up in the world of music. Frederick Stock, conductor of the Chicago Symphony, became aware of her talent and advised that she be sent abroad for further study of the violin. She was accepted as a pupil of Henri Marteau, the noted French violinist who replaced the renowned Joseph Joachim as the head of the Berlin Hochschule für Musik. Ruth continued her studies with Franz Kneisel and Leon Sametini. Ruth concertized throughout the Midwest in recitals and appearances with orchestras, including the St. Louis and Milwaukee Symphonies. Ruth taught in Chicago for many years on the faculty of the American Conservatory of Music and at De Paul University. Ruth’s home in Chicago was a mecca for local and visiting artists, including Jacque Gordon and his fellow quartet members, the London String Quartet, and Jascha Heifetz, to name a few. Here, a young and gifted pianist, Sidney Stafford was introduced to the wonderful world of chamber music while playing with these world-class musicians.
In 1963, she founded the South Bay Chamber Music Society. Her friend Jascha Heifetz made a $100 contribution in our early years.

Sidney Stafford Bio

by Erwin Fishman

Ruth got us started, but it has been Sidney Stafford who has kept us going. After high school graduation, Sidney attended Sherwood Music School in Chicago, where he had some wonderful piano and music instruction.
When Sidney’s military career ended, he returned to Chicago and attended the Chicago Musical College, with the blessings of the GI Bill. He was a student of the great Swiss pianist, Rudolph Ganz and, for chamber music, of violinist Paul Stassevitch. It was at the Chicago Musical College that he began his associations with Sidney Weiss and with the famous violinist Aaron Rosand, who had graduated from Curtis and was living in his hometown of Chicago.Sidney’s professional career actually started back in 1937 when he accompanied a group of opera singers on tour. However, he went “big time” in 1948, leaving school and joining national tours. That year he accompanied Aaron Rosand and cellist Raya Garbousova.
During this period of major assignments, Sidney toured with Mishel Piastro’s Longines Symphonette (1953 through 1959). Also he was Michael Rabin’s accompanist in 1959. He toured with David Abel from 1959 to 1966. He continued concertizing and playing chamber music with many of Hollywood’s greats, including Louis Kaufman and Joseph Schuster.
The inauguration of the South Bay Chamber Music Society in 1963 in collaboration with Ruth Breytspraak, continued the main line of his career, as did a chamber music series he directed at the Long Beach Library.
Sidney’s devotion to the South Bay Chamber Music Society remains at the highest level. It all started, as shown in this history, with his own performances in ensembles with many of the greatest musicians in the studios and orchestras.

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Collette Nance Bio

Colette Nance was a founding member of the South Bay Chamber Music Society and remained an active board member for twenty-five years. Attributes she brought to the society included her career as a performing pianist and teacher, her sense of humor, and her warmth. The South Bay Chamber Music Society concert on May 5, 1995 was dedicated to her memory.

Colette was born in New York in 1898 and attended the Juilliard School. She studied piano with Olga Steeb, Carl Leimer, Alex Lambert, and Victor Aller. She gave concerts in New York (1917), Boston (1918), with the Glendale Orchestra (1927), and at the Los Angeles Biltmore (1933). The Los Angeles Times wrote, “Colette is an artist of unusual sensibility whose talent places her among the leading pianists of today.” In 1959, Colette gave a recital (program) in La Cartuja de Valldemosa, Mallorca, the place of Chopin’s sojourn with female novelist George Sand.

Colette moved to the South Bay where she lived with her husband at 121 via Los Miradores in Redondo Beach for many years .

Louis Kaufman Bio

Louis Kaufman (1905 – 1994) whom the New York Times has called “A violinist’s violinist and a musician’s musician” has gained a unique place among the great violinists of our time. His successful tours of North and South America and Europe, plus his extraordinary recording achievements in recording more than 100 major works of the violin repertoire, have created musical history. Kaufman’s records range from works of Vivaldi, Bach and Telemann to Milhaud, Khachaturian, Poulenc and Copland. It is a rare tribute that Milhaud, Bennett, Toch and Copland have recorded their own works with this artist. Kaufman’s presentation, to capacity audiences in New York, London, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, and his recordings of the complete cycles of concertos of Vivaldi’s Opus VIII and IX and Torelli’s Opus VIII (in all 36 concertos) have won international esteem, including the “Grand Prix du Disque” in France, for his recording of Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons.”

The South Bay Chamber Music Society was honored to present Louis Kaufman in four of its first five concerts, which ensured a strong start and a bright future for the organization.