Elisabeth Waldo

about

Elisabeth Waldo Dentzel (born June 18, 1918) is an American violinist, composer, songwriter, conductor and ethnomusicologist. A scholar of pre-Columbian era music, she was an early adopter of Native American musical instruments among those trained in European classical music. Her melding of ancient and contemporary styles of American music ranks Waldo among the pioneers in the genre now known as exotica. Waldo was born in Yakima, Washington to Jane Althea Blodgett, a singer trained at the Boston Conservatory of Music, and Benjamin Franklin Waldo, a descendant of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Waldo grew up on her family's ranch at the edge of the Yakima Indian Reservation in Washington State. She started singing at age three and took up violin by age five. Russian violist Jascha Heifetz heard her play and helped her attain a scholarship to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where she received a classical music education. In 1940 conductor Leopold Stokowski invited Waldo to join the newly formed All-American Youth Orchestra. They toured South America in 1940 and then North America in 1941 before disbanding when the U.S. entered World War II. It was on these tours that Waldo's interest in musical archaeology grew and she began collecting pre-Columbian instruments. After the All-American Youth Orchestra, Waldo made her home in Southern California where she played as a first violinist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic for one season. She returned to Latin America as a touri

top songs

albums

Sacred Rites (Rites of the Pagan / Realm of the Incas)

Realm of the Incas

Sacred Rites

Maracatú

Rites of the Pagan: Mystic Realm of the Ancient Americas

Maracatu

Rites Of The Pagan

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Chant to the Sun

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Exotica - The Ultimate Collection

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Februar Mood

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Land of Golden Dreams

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Realm of the Incas (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

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