Edwina Florence Wills

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Edwina Florence Wheeler Wills (December 5, 1915 – December 1, 2002)[1] was an American artist and composer who played cello and piano.[2] A native of Des Moines, Iowa,[3] she received a B.A. from Grinnell College. On Feb 3, 1939, she married Luther Max Wills and they had four children.[4]

Wills played cello in the Des Moines Symphony Orchestra, as well as in the Salem and Eugene Symphony Orchestras, both in Oregon. In 1971, she became the principal cellist in the Portland, Oregon, Chamber Orchestra. She taught chamber music at Lewis and Clark College and taught cello at Washington State University.[5]

Wills sculpted and painted in oil and watercolor,[6] exhibiting at the Art Institute of Chicago.[7] One of her works was a medieval-style chess set consisting of eight sculptures: a king, a queen, and six other chess pieces.[8]

Her musical compositions include:

  • Fugue in F Major (piano)
  • Radiance and Glory (violin, cello, voice and piano; based on text by Giovanni Giocondo)
  • String Quartet in g minor (first prize in Washington State Federation of Music Clubs Competition, 1941)[9]
  • Theme and Variations (cello and piano)

References[]

  1. ^ "Edwina Florence Wheeler - Ancestry.com". www.ancestry.com. Retrieved 2020-08-05.
  2. ^ The Triangle of Mu Phi Epsilon. Mu Phi Epsilon. 2002.
  3. ^ Hixon, Donald L. (1993). Women in music : an encyclopedic biobibliography. Hennessee, Don A. (2nd ed.). Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-2769-7. OCLC 28889156.
  4. ^ The World Who's who of Women. Melrose Press. 1976. ISBN 978-0-900332-40-1.
  5. ^ Cohen, Aaron I. (1987). International encyclopedia of women composers (Second edition, revised and enlarged ed.). New York. ISBN 0-9617485-2-4. OCLC 16714846.
  6. ^ Appleton, Marion Brymner (1941). Who's who in Northwest Art: A Biographical Directory of Persons in the Pacific Northwest Working in the Media of Painting, Sculpture, Graphic Arts, Illustration, Design, and the Handicrafts. F. McCaffrey.
  7. ^ "Edwina Wheeler Wills - Artist and Art Publications - Edwina Wheeler Wills". www.askart.com. Retrieved 2020-08-05.
  8. ^ Office, Library of Congress Copyright (1980). Catalog of Copyright Entries. Fourth Series: Visual arts. Copyright Office, Library of Congress.
  9. ^ Colby, Frank Harvey (1941). The Pacific Coast Musician.
Retrieved from ""