Nancy Sze's Obituary
In Memory of Nancy Lee Sze Nancy Lee Sze passed away peacefully at her residence in San Francisco on October 18, 2008 at the age of 93. Born in Darien, China, March 1, 1915, Nancy attended the Bethlehem American Missionary School at age seven in Shanghai. She graduated Mary Farham High School where she started piano lessons. Nancy attended the Shanghai National Conservatory of Music where she studied with Boris Lazaroff. After graduating from the Shanghai Conservatory 1936, the conservatory moved to Chungking during WWII and invited her and where she became Head of the Piano Department. Nancy immigrated to America and arrived in New York in 1946, enrolling in the Juillard School of Music. She married bass baritone Yi-Kwei Sze, who had immigrated to America, in 1947. Nancy Sze traveled with Yi-Kwei Sze as his accompanist on his early concert tours. In 1949, Nancy was accompanist at Yi-Kwei Sze's first of 9 appearances at Carnegie Hall. The Sze's moved to Westport, Connecticut in 1956 where Nancy quickly established herself as a piano teacher teaching privately and at the Westport School of Music through the 1960's. The Sze's moved to Cleveland, Ohio in 1972 where Yi-Kwei Sze taught at the Cleveland Institute of Music and where Nancy was on the faculty of the Piano Department. They later relocated to Rochester, New York in 1973 where Mr. Sze became professor of voice at the Eastman School of Music. In 1979, Nancy and Yi-Kwei traveled to Shanghai to give master classes at the Shanghai Conservatory. Yi-Kwei Sze was the first American artist to be invited by the Chinese government to teach voice after the establishment of diplomacy with the United States in 1979. Nancy Sze taught the art of accompaniment during their stay in Shanghai. Upon their return to Eastman, Nancy and Yi-Kwei established an Endowment Fund in 1982 for Chinese students. After their retirement, the Sze's returned to Westport and then moved to the Bay Area where Nancy again established herself as a private piano teacher in both locations. She is survived by her son Alexander of San Francisco, and two brothers William and Austin of China. A Funeral Service will take place at the Lifemark Center at Skylawn Memorial Park at 11am , Saturday, October 25, 2008. Memorial donations may be made to the Yi-Kwei and Nancy Lee Sze Scholarship Endowment Fund at the University of Rochester Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York. Inquiries may be made to Perry Lenz, Director of Operations, Gift Dept., at (585) 273-2637 or [email protected].
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