Mana-Zucca

Mana-Zucca (December 25, 1885 – March 8, 1981) was an American actress, singer, pianist and composer. Biography Mana-Zucca was born Gussie Zuckermann (first name uncertain) in New York City on December 25, 1885. The daughter of Polish immigrants, she was a child prodigy who began composing at an early age. Mana-Zucca was interested in music when she was very young. She was frustrated at the age of three when she found that her toy piano didn’t have half tones. Her first piano teacher was her neighbor called Patotnikoff. Not long after that, her piano teacher was changed to Platon Brounoff, who was a Russian immigrant. Shortly after giving her first recital at the age of three and a half, she got a scholarship at the age of four when she had an audition for the National Conservatory of Music (New York City). In the conservatory, she studied with different teachers, including Misses Margulies and Okell. At the age of seven she began to study piano with the eminent Polish pianist and pedagogue Alexander Lambert, who taught at the New York College of Music. Lambert was not only her teacher but also her concert manager and mentor. Her practice regime, dictated by Lambert, was rigorous. So