The Sorel Organization: About Us

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ABOUT CLAUDETTE SOREL AND THE SOREL MISSION

Claudette Sorel's publication,
"Mind Your Musical Manners."

The Sorel Organization intends to create opportunities for women in composition, conducting, piano, voice and film scoring. Our mission is to keep musical excellence alive and to help expand the boundaries for women in music.

Born in Paris of French-Hungarian parentage, Claudette Sorel was trained in the United States under famous teachers as Olga Samaroff Stokowski, Rudolf Serkin and Mieczyslaw Horszowski. At the age of 10, she made her New York Town Hall debut and the following year performed with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. Her scholastic honors include graduating high school in three years as valedictorian, and simultaneously attending The Juilliard School with complete fellowship. She graduated from there with highest honors and as its youngest graduate. Upon the death of Mme. Samaroff, the Curtis Institute of Music granted her a five year fellowship and she received its Artist Dimploma with highest honors. This was accomplished while Miss Sorel was also a student at Columbia University from which she received a Mathematics Degree-Cum Laude. At Columbia she studied musicology with Mitchell, Ussachevsky and Beeson. Miss Sorel made more than 2,000 concert, recital, and festival appearances and has played with 200 major orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, NBC Symphony, and London Philharmonic. One hundred of those performances were as soloist in the MacDowell Concerto No. 2 which is featured on a CD. She recorded for RCA Victor, Monitor and Musical Heritage. Miss Sorel has given premiere performances of works by Lukas Foss, Harold Morris, Paul Creston, Peter Mennin and others. Her numerous awards and citations from the time she was 12 include the Ford Foundation Concert Artist Grant and the National Federation of Music Clubs Young Artist Award (as its youngest winner). She judged for countless international and national music competitions.

Miss Sorel has held professorships at the University of Kansas, Ohio State University, and the State University of New York, where she was the chairman of the piano department for 13 years. She was designated by the Trustees of SUNY the youngest and only woman "Distinguished University Professor," among a faculty of 30,000.

Board of Directors

Berge Avedisian
President, Treasurer

Walter Killmer
Vice President, Secretary

Judy Cope
Executive Director

Advisory Board

Mark Adamo
Wende Persons
Barbara Petersen
Emma Lou Diemer
Fran Richard
Ronald Sadoff
Peter Schickele
Tania Leon
Margo Garrett
Tony Caramia
Nancy Van de Vate
Raymond Willingham