Isobel Moore

Moore, Isobel

Isobel Moore. Pianist, harpist, teacher, b Glasgow 27 Mar 1931. She studied at the Royal Scottish Academy, with Max Pirani at the RAM, and at the Vienna Academy of Music. She was harpist 1960-70 with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, taught at the University of Alberta 1962-79, and joined the piano department of the Banff SFA in 1967. She became a member of the staff of the school's program for advanced studies in 1979, and the artistic director of its winter program in 1989.

She and her husband, Thomas Rolston, have performed as a duo, winning second prize at the 1956 Munich International Competition and appearing in 1961 at Wigmore Hall, London. Their association with Jean Coulthard has inspired several works, including Duo Sonata (1952), Fantasy (1961, premiered in 1963), and Music on a Scottish Folk Song (1964). The Rolston Trio, formed in 1965 with cellist Claude Kenneson, has given many recitals and broadcasts. Their daughter Shauna Rolston has also performed as the trio's cellist in Beethoven's Triple Concerto and chamber music recitals of works by Brahms and Schubert.

Violinist Zoltán Székely chose Moore as his exclusive recital partner after 1974. Székely and Moore recorded Bartók's two Rhapsodies for violin and piano for Hungaroton's Complete Bartók Record Edition (1974, Hungaraton SLPX-11357). Moore has performed as accompanist for her daughter, including for the latter's New York debut recital in Town Hall in 1983, in many subsequent recitals in North America and Asia, and on the recording The Romantic Cello.