DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say — and friend, this one's worth every mile. Now, she was born Lucy Mary Olga Agnes Hickenlooper. That's a name that fills a room all by itself.
Her father Carlos and her mother Jane — née Loening — brought her up in Galveston's wealthy Silk Stocking District, and the music was already in the walls before she ever sat down at a keyboard. Her father worked for the Thos. Googan and Bro.
Music Company. Her mother and grandmother taught piano lessons right out of the family home. Lucy was their star pupil, and word got around fast.
Prominent musicians heard her play public concerts at an early age and said, plain as day: this child needs European training. So in 1894, Lucy boarded a ship with her grandmother and headed to Paris. A year later — a year — she won a scholarship to the Conservatoire de Paris.
First American woman to do so. Let that settle in for a second. She graduated in 1897, married a Russian civil servant named Boris Loutzky, and moved to St.
Petersburg, where she devoted her time to general musical study. After three years, she divorced Boris and set her sights back on the concert stage. Now here's where the story takes a turn that only Texas could love.
It's 1905, and Lucy Hickenlooper wants to launch an American career. She rents her own concert hall. Hires her own manager.
And she changes her name — to Olga Samaroff. More European-sounding, the marker says, and apparently the public agreed, because Olga Samaroff was an instant success. She went on to play Carnegie Hall, the Met, Royal Albert Hall, and concert stages in Paris, Rome, Berlin, and Vienna.
The girl from Galveston's Silk Stocking District, who grew up listening to her grandmother give piano lessons, was now filling the grandest halls on earth. And she wasn't done. After her concert career, Olga joined the faculty of the new Juilliard School of Music.
She commuted to teach at the Philadelphia Conservatory. She published books on music — including her own autobiography. And her legacy kept growing even after she was gone, through the Schubert Memorial, a competition designed to give American musicians the very kind of stage that once launched her.
The family had lived in Galveston until the 1900 storm. The city she grew up in was forever changed that day. But the name Lucy Hickenlooper became Olga Samaroff, and Olga Samaroff became something the world remembered.
Not bad for a girl who started out in a home full of piano lessons on the Gulf Coast of Texas.
What the marker says
Born as Lucy Mary Olga Agnes Hickenlooper to Carlos and Jane (Loening) Hickenlooper in San Antonio, Lucy grew up in a home in the wealthy Silk Stocking District of Galveston. Lucy's father worked for the Thos. Googan & Bro. Music Company and her mother and grandmother taught piano lessons from the family home. As their star pupil, Lucy began to play public concerts at an early age where prominent musicians recommended European training. Her family continued to live in Galveston until the 1900 storm. In 1894, Lucy traveled with her grandmother to Paris to continue her study of piano. A year later she won a scholarship to the Conservatoire de Paris, the first American woman to do so. Following her graduation in 1897, Lucy married Russian civil servant Boris Loutzky and moved to St. Petersburg where she devoted her time to general musical study. After three years, Lucy divorced Boris and began to pursue her concert pianist aspirations. In 1905, to launch her American career, Lucy changed her name to Olga Samaroff, a more European-sounding name, rented her own concert hall and hired a manager. Olga Samaroff was an instant success. She went on to play worldwide, including at Carnegie Hall, the Met, Royal Albert Hall, and in Paris, Rome, Berlin, Vienna and more. Following her concert career, Olga taught at the new Juilliard School of Music, was a commuting faculty member for the Philadelphia Conservatory and published several books on music, including an autobiography. Her legacy is remembered through her music and the Schubert Memorial, a competition for American musicians to perform and compete. (2016)