Ilza Niemack

Ilza Louise Niemack (April 8, 1903 – July 12, 1993), born Ilse Niemack, was an American violinist, composer, and music educator. She taught at Iowa State University from 1935 to 1973, and the concert mistress of the Iowa State Symphony. Early life and education Niemack was born in Charles City, Iowa, the daughter of Julius Niemack and Stella Blumenstiel Niemack. Her father was a medical doctor born in Germany. Both of her parents were musical. She attended the Chicago Musical College, and studied with Leon Sametini and Leopold Auer. She also studied composition and theory with Felix Borowski and Rubin Goldmark. Career Niemack played an Amati violin built in 1655, a gift from her father when she made her New York debut at age 18. She toured in Germany, England, and the United States as a young woman. She played sonatas that she composed at New York City recitals in 1927 and 1934. She also played her Sonata in G Minor at the 1929 convention of the Society of Music Teachers of Iowa, accompanied by her mother on piano. “Perhaps no greater Iowa violinist, at least no other with greater promise, is living today than Miss Ilza Niemack,” noted a report in the journal of the Iowa State Teac