Santa
Clara County
Biographies
KING
CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC
The city of San Jose is liberally endowed with
institutions calculated to advance materially the intellectual welfare of its
inhabitants, and prominent among them is the King Conservatory of Music, well
known to musicians and music lovers throughout the west, as well as having a
wide patronage from almost every state. This institution will soon celebrate
its twenty-fifth anniversary, having been established in 1879 by F. Loui King, now dean of the college and professor of the
pianoforte, who for twenty years previous to this enterprise had been an
instructor in music and had gained an experience which has proved invaluable to
those who have studied under him.
Located in the center of the Garden
City, the King Conservatory of Music is easily accessible from all the business
blocks, being just a half block from St. James Park and two blocks from the
Broad Gauge Depot. It consists of three neat and attractive buildings, the
interior of which is fitted up in a most artistic and elegant manner, the broad
entrance hall handsomely decorated with statuary, pictures and cabinets; while
underneath the grille work and drapery one looks into the auditorium which is
also equipped with all elegance and seats a large number of people. In
equipment for the courses which are to be obtained at the conservatory no institution
is its superior; there are sixteen rooms in the buildings given over for
teaching and all practical purposes. It is complete in faculty and
appurtenances, and with the most accomplished instructors, although there is no
part of the work that is not under the direct supervision of the dean. All
instruction is systematically arranged, being divided into the Amateur,
Preparatory and Conservatory courses, the first to give general practice and
theoretical acquaintance with the best authors for those who are limited as to
their effort along musical lines; the second to prepare pupils for entrance into
the last, which fits students for the important duties of teaching, and this
last course is one which will develop all capable of taking up such work. The
method of instruction in vogue at the conservatory is to cultivate the needs of
the individual student, both technically and musically, rather than prescribe
the same studies for every scholar, each one holding a place of interest in the
mind of the instructor. The claim of this institution to impart the most
thorough and complete musical education, theoretical and practical, in the
west, is based upon results which speak eloquently of the success which has
attended an earnest and devoted effort to build up an enduring monument to the
most attractive of arts. During the past twenty-five years there have gone
forth from this institution a large number of students who now hold honorable
positions as instructors all over the state, and have been accepted as artists,
and most highly complimented by the best masters in Germany and America. Of
comparative recent date has been the establishment of a branch of the
conservatory in San Francisco, located with a studio in the Union Square
building at the corner of Stockton and Geary streets, where Professor King
teaches on Wednesdays and Saturdays preparing such scholars for graduation.
Success has attended this department, and while it gives San Francisco students
the advantage of taking the degree while studying here, it enlarges the scope
of influence and value of the conservatory, and the standard of the methods.
The faculty of the school consists of the following well-known names in musical
circles: Frank Loui King, dean, A. M., B. M.,
professor of the pianoforte; August L. Schroeder, B. M., F. Giorza
King, B. M., Luena M. King. B. M., assistant
pianoforte instructors; Mrs. Hillman-Smith, principal voice department; F. Giorza King and F. Loui King, principals
department of theory; Mary Minnahan, B. M., assistant
theory teacher and professor of musical history; Grace Barstow, violin; Milton
Lawrence, sight reading and choral; Frank Carlton, clarionette;
and Franz Schubert, contra bass, cornet and brass instruments.
At the head of this institution is
its founder, F. Loui King, one of the best known and
most highly honored musicians in America. He is a native of the Isle of Wight,
where his birth occurred in 1855. His father, Thomas King, was a violinist of
more than local note, having studied under Swori,
while his grandfather was a professor in a musical institution. With his
musical ability as an inheritance it was but a small task to begin instruction,
and at an early age he began to study that which has proved to be his life
work. Of ambitious temperament as well as unusual talent, he early became
proficient under the instruction of such teachers as Julius Benedict and Herr
Julius Siede in theory and instrumentation, while he
received his piano-forte education under the renowned Charles Halle in
Manchester, England. When fourteen years old he traveled as concert pianist
with Ilma de Murska and
Mme. Anna Bishop, performing in every city of importance on the continent, and
also held the position of church organist of St. Jude’s and later of St. Francis R. C. in Melbourne,
Australia. In 1878 he gave a series of successful recitals in San Francisco,
receiving flattering criticisms from press and public, and also gave analytical
recitals for the Chautauqua societies for three seasons at Pacific Grove, Cal.,
and later at Long Beach, Cal. He founded the Chair of Music in the University
of the Pacific, after which he built the King Conservatory of Music. At all
times since his residence in California the professor has been prominently
associated with musical events, being especially well known for the active part
he has taken to elevate music in the western states. His ability is
unquestioned, both as a teacher and composer, many of his compositions having
called forth merited commendation. He is a man of fine personality, which,
combined with his earnestness of purpose, makes him many warm friends who are
believers in and admirers of the methods with which he has brought about so
much of personal success, as well as an advancement along the lines of a
general welfare.
In Australia Professor King was
united in marriage with Luena Murcutt,
a native of England and the daughter of English parentage. She is also a
musician of more than ordinary ability, receiving her education in Melbourne
and Sydney, and teaching the piano at fifteen years. Of this union were born
three sons and a daughter, namely: Claude, an artist in San Francisco; Loui, associated with the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad,
making his home in San Jose; F. Giorza; and Luena, a graduate of the King Conservatory of Music and now
holding a position as assistant instructor. F. Giorza
King is a young man of brilliant attainments, who, after his graduation in the
Washburn School, took up the various courses in music, graduating in 1899 with
the degree of B. M. He is now filling the office of secretary of the
conservatory and is assistant professor. F. Loui King
is associated fraternally with the Benevolent Protective order of Elks.
Transcribed By: Cecelia M. Setty.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 432-433. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2015 Cecelia M. Setty.