Muriel Kerr

Muriel Kerr Benditzky (née Kerr; January 18, 1911 – September 18, 1963) was a Canadian pianist and music instructor with the Juilliard School and University of Southern California. Lorence was prominent in Regina's business community as the owner of Kerr Land Company, a real estate development business, and co-owner of the Kerr-Patton Coal Company. During his lifetime, he was known as the developer of the "impressive" multistory Kerr Block on Regina's Scarth Street. The house he built in Regina for his family in 1911, the Kerr Residence (2326 College Avenue), became a municipal heritage property in 2007, and remains on the National Historic Sites of Canada register as of 2026. Her grade school friends would later recall that her mother "kept [Kerr] to a stringent schedule of four to six hours of practice daily." Hoping to further Kerr's music career, her family relocated to the United States permanently in 1919.

Career

Concert pianist In 1928, Kerr was among the first recipients of the Franz Schubert Memorial Award. This afforded her an opportunity to record music for Victor Records, perform with the New York Philharmonic, and debut at the Town Hall. Kerr's 1928 recital with the Philharmonic was poorly received by critics, though her 1929 performance at the Town Hall attracted more positive reviews. and recorded compositions by Robert Schumann and Paul Hindemith for Victor Records in 1952.

Teaching In 1942, Kerr began teaching at Juilliard. Her relationship with Erskine's successor, William Schuman, was not as positive.

Kerr joined the faculty of the University of Southern California in 1955, and began serving as the director of the Punahou Music School in Honolulu in 1957.

Throughout her lifetime, Kerr was regarded by the residents of her birth city and province as a source of pride. ' She featured often in the column of Dan Cameron, long-running music correspondent for the Regina-based Leader Post. Cameron himself had assisted Kerr when she performed as a novelty "child pianist" across Saskatchewan in her youth. Throughout her career, he occasionally reprinted reviews sent in by readers from other newspapers about performances that had featured Kerr, but only the sections related to her. Though she described music as both her career and principal hobby, she was also noted to enjoy bridge and ping-pong. The marriage took Kerr's parents by surprise, though Ernest Hutcheson was aware of his students' intentions and kept their plan to marry a secret.

During the 1930s, Kerr performed with the Gordon String Quartet, of which Russian-born cellist Naoum Benditzky (1901–1972) was also a member.

Notable students

Fredric Myrow – composer of the soundtracks for Soylent Green, Scarecrow, and Phantasm. Michael Tilson Thomas – conductor, pianist, and composer. Marilyn Neeley – Emmy Award-winning pianist. Zhanna Arshanskaya Dawson – Russian-American pianist and Holocaust survivor; mother of journalist Greg Dawson. Kerr, described as Zhanna Dawson's "hero," played at the reception of Zhanna's wedding in 1947.