Concert pianist Marcia Weiser inspired other musicians

Marcia Weiser, a concert pianist and leader on the Twin Cities classical music scene, was still pursuing musical challenges and inspiring her fellow musicians in her 10th decade.

"She was an example to me of somebody who loves music without designs, without ulterior motives," said Alexander Braginsky, professor of piano for the University of Minnesota's School of Music. "To know somebody, who around the age of 93 learned Ravel's 'Noble and Sentimental Waltzes,' a very difficult work, is amazing. Then you think: Am I doing this much? She did this for many others."

Weiser, who in recent weeks could still be seen at musical events supporting up and coming musicians, died on June 5 at her Edina home. The Minneapolis native was 97.

She was Marcia Smith when she graduated from Northrop Collegiate School in Minneapolis. After graduating from the MacPhail Center for Music in 1929, she studied in Italy and attended New York's Juilliard School.

In Minneapolis, she and her first husband, Dr. Edward (E. C.) Emerson raised a family, and she played leadership roles in St. Paul's Schubert Club.

Over the years, she was often a soloist with the club and Minneapolis' Thursday Musical gathering. She played with various chamber music groups and the old Minneapolis Symphony.

She garnered rave reviews in the daily newspapers, as she did when she played at Northrop Memorial Auditorium in August 1957.

For years, Weiser was a Schubert Club board member.

Dee Ann Crossley, the club's vice president for concerts, said Weiser continued to support young musicians in recent months.

"She always had so many generous, yet enlightening things to say about the performances, particularly the pianists," said Crossley. "I was amazed at her insight."

During the 1970s and into the early 1980s, she taught piano in her home.

Her son, Edward, of Minneapolis, a cellist, said: "She inspired me to be a musician by challenging me to listen to more sophisticated music." For several years, she was a local judge of talent trying out for New York's Metropolitan Opera, he said.

Emerson, her first husband, from whom she was divorced, died in 1991.

Daughter Nancy Emerson died in 1936, and daughter Gertrude Emerson died in 1940.

In addition to her son, she is survived by two daughters, Kathryn Emerson of Edina, and Sarah Ruplin of Stoneybrook, N. Y.; eight grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.