Winifred Townsend

Winifred Amy Townsend Cree (about 1876^[1] – September 27, 1965) was an American violinist and music educator, based in Chicago. She headed the Winifred Townsend Concert Company, a trio of performers touring on the Chautauqua circuit in the 1910s. She was a member of the Women's Symphony Orchestra of Chicago in the 1920s.

Townsend was born in Iowa, the daughter of Frank H. Townsend and Madge Lambert Townsend. She won a gold medal studying with Bernhard Listeman^[2] at the Chicago Musical College in 1897,^[3] and earned a diploma at the American Violin School, Chicago, in 1902.^[4] She also studied violin in Paris, with Albert Geloso.^[5]

Townsend played a 1771 Storioni violin.^[6] In 1904 she toured in the MIdwest with her sister Faerie Townsend, a singer and dramatic reader, and a baritone named De Loss Smith.^[7] From 1909,^[2] she headed the Bostonia Concert Company, also known as Winifred Townsend Concert Company, a musical ensemble that toured the United States in the 1910s,^[8] often on the Chautauqua circuit.^[9] The other members of the group were her sister Faerie and her sister's eventual husband, Ralph Walker, who played cello and piano, and sang baritone.^[5][10] They toured for at least seven seasons, and their show included costumes, child impersonations, readings, and a short operetta composed by Townsend and Ralph Walker.^[11] In 1917 the performed for the inmates at Leavenworth Penitentiary in Kansas,^[12] and they entertained troops at military bases and YMCAs during World War I.^[13]

In the 1920s, Townsend was soloist and concertmeister with the Winona Orchestra in Indiana,^[14] and a member of the Women's Symphony Orchestra of Chicago. She formed the Townsend String Quartet with other members of the Women's Symphony Orchestra.^[15] In 1928 Townsend performed with an all-female ensemble for the Lake View Musical Society.^[16]

Townsend also taught violin in the Chicago area,^[14][17] including at Kimball Hall.^[18] Ruth Ray and Nesta Smith were among her students,^[19] and music professor and violist Stella P. Roberts.^[18] Her nephew Robert Walker was also one of her violin students.^[20]

Townsend married dentist Charles Garfield Cree in 1910, and had a daughter, Margaret. Her husband died in 1938, and Winifred Townsend Cree died in 1965, in Winnetka, Illinois, in her late eighties.^[21]