Guide to the Camilla Urso Collection
Finding aid created by Jamie Weber
Special Collections, Honnold/Mudd Library
2009
Claremont University Consortium
Libraries of The Claremont Colleges
800 N. Dartmouth Avenue
Claremont, CA 91711
Phone: (909) 607-3977
Fax: (909) 621-8681
Email: spcoll@libraries.claremont.edu
URL: http://libraries.claremont.edu/sc/default.html
© 2009
Claremont University Consortium. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Camilla Urso Collection
Creator:
Urso, Camilla
Dates: 1892-1969
Quantity: .25 feet (1 box)
Repository:
Libraries of the Claremont Colleges. Special Collections, Honnold/Mudd Library.
800 N. Dartmouth Ave.
Claremont University Consortium
Libraries of the Claremont Colleges
Claremont, California 91711
Collection Number: h2009.4
Languages: Languages represented in the collection: English
Physical location: Special Collections. Honnold/Mudd Library.
Information for Researchers
Restrictions on Access
This collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Property rights resides with Special Collections, Honnold/Mudd Library. For permission to reproduce or to publish, please
contact Special Collections staff.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Camilla Urso Collection. Special Collections, Honnold/Mudd Library, Claremont University Consortium.
Acquisition Information
Unknown
Processing Information
Arranged and processed by Jamie Weber in 2009.
Accruals
No additions to the collection are anticipated.
Biography of Camilla Urso
Camilla Urso (born 1842, Nantes, France died 1902, New York, N.Y., U.S.A.) was the daughter of an Italian flutist and a Portuguese
singer. Urso began taking violin lessons when she was six years old, though orchestral instruments were only played by boys
and men at the time. After a successful recital a year later, the Urso family moved to Paris where Camilla Urso was the first
girl to be admitted to the Paris Conservatoire. By the age of ten, she had already performed in Switzerland, Germany, and
France, and graduated with first prize in the final examinations. She made her debut in New York City in September 1852 and
gave concerts in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia. In 1853 she gave a series of concerts throughout New England with the
Germania Musical Society. She did not appear again publicly until 1863, when she performed with the Philharmonic Society
in Boston, and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. After 1864, Urso toured with her own concert company, returning to Paris
in 1865, and performing in Australia in 1879 and 1894, Brazil and Argentina in 1880, and South Africa in 1895. After settling
in New York City in 1895 she continued to tour regularly in the United States and abroad while teaching violin privately and
at the National Conservatory. She was asknowledged one of the preeminent violinists of the day and became one of America's
foremost performers and music educators, as well as a spokesperson for the cause of women as orchestral players, working with
the Women's String Orchestra from 1895 until her death. She died of appendicitis in New York City on january 20, 1902.
Scope and Contents of the Collection
This collection contains clippings and pamphlets about Urso's life and career, a program from one of her concerts, a photograph,
and an autograph.
Arrangement
Series 1 Camilla Urso
Index Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection
Musicians
Urso, Camilla, 1842-1902.
Violinists
Series 1
Camilla Urso,
1901 - 1907
Box 1, folder 1
Camilla Urso Porgram,
1901
Box 1, folder 1
Camilla Urso: A Souvenir,
1930-1953
Box 1, folder 1
Signed Manuscript,
undated
Box 1, folder 1
Excerpt from "Famous Violinists of Today and Yesterday" by Henry C. Lahee,
1899
Box 1, folder 1
Camilla Urso Photograph,
undated
