Alice Chalifoux

Alice Chalifoux in the 1930s.

Alice Chalifoux (born January 22, 1908 in Birmingham – died July 31, 2008 in WInchester, Virginia) was a noted harpist and music educator. She was principal harpist with the Cleveland Orchestra from 1931 to 1974 and director of the Salzedo Summer Harp Colony from 1961 until her retirement.

She was the youngest of four children born to merchant and violinist Oliver Chalifoux and his wife, harpist Alice Hallé Chalifoux in Birmingham. After learning to play from her mother and continuing as a music student in local schools, Alice was accepted as a student of Carlos Salzedo at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

She joined the Cleveland Symphony in 1931 and remained its only female member into well into the 1940s. In 1937 she married industrial designer John Rideout. He created the Cleveland subdivision of Moreland Hills where the couple resided. He died in 1951 of hypertension.

Under the direction of such legendary conductors as Erich Leinsdorf, Artur Rodzinski, George Szell, Pierre Boulez, and Loren Maazel, Chalifoux quickly recognized as a virtuoso in orchestral technique. Her recording of the Debussy Danses sacrée et profane with the Cleveland Orchestra received a Grammy Award in 1996.

Chalifoux was known as a strong advocate of the method for the harp developed by Salzedo, but she also earned a reputation as a teacher in her own right through her many years spent teaching at The Cleveland Institute of Music, the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music. Chalifoux was the primary instructor at the Salzedo Summer Harp Colony, in Camden, Maine. She succeeded Salzedo as director of the school after his death in 1961. Her students continue to hold posts with major orchestras. In 1988 she appeared on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, introducing a performance by five of her students.

Chalifoux was a resident at the Blue Ridge Hospice in Winchester, Virginia when she died at the age of 100. She was survived by her daughters Alyce Rideout and Jeanne Chalifoux. A memorial service was held in Cleveland.

References

• "Alice Chalifoux." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 4 Aug 2008, 17:13 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 4 Aug 2008 [1].
• "Alice Chalifoux: Master Performer and Teacher" (Fall 2002) Special Citation for Distinguished Service to the Arts. 1986 Cleveland Arts Prize.
• Rosenberg, Donald (August 1, 2008) "Former Cleveland Orchestra harpist Alice Chalifoux dies at 100". Cleveland Plain Dealer
• Pike, Anastasia (Summer 2008) "Alice Chalifoux: a Centenarian's Legacy." The American Harp Journal