Camilla D Wicks

The great American violinist Camilla Wicks has passed away, aged 92. She was one of the earliest female violinists to attain international prominence as a soloist and was an inspirational professor at a number of universities and music conservatories in the United States and in Norway.

Born on August 9th, 1928 to musician parents of Norwegian stock, Wicks begged for a violin at age 3 ½. Trained by her parents and with an innate sense of music, she was able to perform the Vivaldi Concerto in A Minor in public, from memory, at age four. By age 10, her family had relocated to New York so that she could attend Julliard School of Music and study with the great Louis Persinger.

In 1942, at age 13, Camilla debuted as soloist in New York’s Town Hall and later with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Several years later, she made her debut in Carnegie Hall with the New York Philharmonic. By her late teens, she was appearing with leading American orchestras and conductors and embarking on lengthy tours of Europe. Her dazzling virtuosity, lyrical splendor and electrifying musical flair propelled her into a major solo career post World War II. Admired by Sibelius and Bloch, she was a muse for many Scandinavian composers.

As much a family woman as a natural performer, and a prime example of the difficulties to reconcile the two, Wicks retired in her early thirties to devote herself to her five children, Angela, Paul, Erik, Philip and Lise-Marie. She later intermittently reignited her concertizing and while she didn’t regain her earlier prominence, her playing remained superlative and ever more searching. Her repertoire was immensely eclectic and she unearthed hidden gems such as sonatas by Ravel (his opus posthumous) and Germaine Tailleferre. Besides her legendary Sibelius Concerto of 1952, her commercial recordings were far too few until later years when her live recordings were remastered and published, fully revealing her amazing capacity to embody the idiom and spirit of whatever she played whilst always sounding distinctly personal.

Wicks’ academic career included an honorary doctorate and teaching at Rice University, Eastman School of Music, the San Francisco Conservatory (where she held the Isaac Stern Distinguished Chair) and the Royal Conservatory of Oslo, to name a few. In 1999, she was honored with a Knighthood of the Norwegian Order of Merit by the King.

“Her sister recounts that Isaac Stern called her ‘the greatest violinist’, and when asked whether he meant the greatest female violinist, he said, ‘No, I mean the greatest.’”

Wicks touched many people’s lives around the world. Her musical insights were extraordinary and she married rigorous attention to detail and spontaneous story-telling to the highest degree. Generous and entirely without airs and graces, she was strong yet sensitive, private yet fun-loving, sophisticated yet humble, deeply devout yet always enquiring.

Surviving Camilla Wicks are three of her children: Angela Thomas Jeffrey of Georgia; Erik John Thomas of Oregon and Lise-Marie Thomas Wertanzl of Florida. Two other children, Paul Robert Thomas and Philip Ward Thomas, predeceased her. She also leaves three grandchildren: Christina Elizabeth Jeffrey of Arkansas, and Sterling Alexa and Tristan Robert Wertanzl of Florida.

Special thanks to Nathaniel Vallois for his contribution to this story.

Obituary Facts

• Decedent’s full name:

o Camilla Delores Wicks

• Parent’s names:

o Ingwald Wicks

o Ruby Wicks

• Date of birth

o August 9, 1928

• Place of birth

o Long Beach, California

• Date of death

o November 25, 2020

• A Memorial honoring Camilla Wick’s life will be given some time in 2021 in the Miami, Florida area, depending on travel safety at that time. Alternately, the Memorial will be held virtually.

• Interested parties can email [email protected] or [email protected] to receive notice of this Memorial.