Frank La Forge

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Frank La Forge (October 22, 1879 – May 5, 1953) was an American pianist and composer and arranger of art songs. He was born on October 22, 1879 in Rockford, Illinois. La Forge was a boy soprano.[1] He first studied piano with his older sister, and went to Vienna in 1900 to study with Theodor Leschetizky. In the following years he toured Europe, Russia, and the United States as an accompanist to Marcella Sembrich. He moved to New York City in 1920, where he became a music teacher, coach, and accompanist. He died at the piano, performing at a Musician's Club dinner in Manhattan on May 5, 1953.[2][3] La Forge recorded prolifically for the Victor Talking Machine Company, as both a soloist and accompanist starting in 1906. As a soloist, he recorded works by Chopin, Liszt and MacDowell, as well as serving as an accompanist for many singers and instrumentalists. In performance he usually accompanied entirely from memory, considered an unusual feat for an accompanist. In his biography Pathways of Song, La Forge claimed that he had 'a repertoire of over five thousand memorized accompaniments embracing all schools'.[4] In addition, he taught a number of important American singers, including Marian Anderson, Lawrence Tibbett, Marie Powers, and Richard Crooks. La Forge composed around 40 songs for voice and piano in the years between 1906 and 1940, as well as a few piano solos, choral works, and at least one solo for violin and piano. Some of the songs are sacred, and most were publ

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