Ruth Bingaman

Ruth Bingaman
Ruth Bingaman, from a 1922 publication
Born
Ruth Lucille Bingaman

August 29, 1894
Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
DiedMay 15, 1996 (age 101)
San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
Other namesRuth Bingaman Herman, Ruth Bingaman Smith
OccupationsPianist, composer, writer

Ruth Bingaman Herman Smith (August 29, 1894 – May 15, 1996) was an American classical pianist from Texas. She made piano roll recordings in the 1920s, and continued performing into her nineties.

Early life and education

Bingaman was born in Columbus, Ohio, and raised in San Antonio, Texas, the daughter of William Lee Bingaman and Anna L. Bingaman. Her father was a musician and composer.[1] She began studying piano with Carl Hahn of the San Antonio Symphony.[2] She also studied with composer John Steinfeldt,[3] and with pianists Ernest Hutcheson and Alberto Jonas in New York.[4][5] In 1913, she graduated from San Antonio High School. After her first marriage, she pursued further studies at Yale School of Music.[6][7]

Career

Bingaman was just ten years old in 1905, when she performed Beethoven's C Major Concerto at Beethoven Hall in San Antonio.[6] She gave her debut formal recital in 1911, and debuted with the San Antonio Symphony in 1915. In 1921 she gave a recital at Carnegie Hall. She toured with singers Dreda Aves[8] and Rafaelo Díaz.[7]

Bingaman made piano roll recordings for the Welte-Mignon Corporation in the 1920s and 1930s.[9][10] She gave radio concerts from the 1920s.[11][12] She was the lobby pianist at the Brooklyn-Paramount Theatre from 1928 to 1930.[13] She was a soloist with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra in 1939.[14] In 1945 she gave a "victory concert" at the USO in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.[15] She gave a joint recital with violinist Helen DeWitt at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in 1950.[16] She gave her last public performance in February 1991.[7]

She also composed music[17][18] and wrote poetry.[7] In 1967, music by Bingaman was included in a concert featuring the works of three San Antonio women composers.[17] She won a Texas Composers League Award for her composition "Poem Heroique" for cello and piano.[7] She was inducted into the Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors' Association (AMICA) Honor Roll.[19] In 1973, 1977, and 1980, she played at AMICA conventions.[20][21][22]

Personal life

Bingaman married Army officer Harrison Herman in 1919.[23] He died in World War II.[24][25] She married Harrison Smith in 1948. They divorced and she returned to San Antonio in 1957. Smith died there in 1996, at the age of 101. Her grave is in Arlington National Cemetery.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "W. L. Bingaman, Musician, Dies". The Dayton Herald. May 3, 1939. p. 16. Retrieved September 6, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ↑ Jasinski, Laurie E. (February 22, 2012). Handbook of Texas Music. Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 978-0-87611-297-7.
  3. ↑ "In the Realm of Music". San Antonio Evening News. December 6, 1922. p. 10. Retrieved September 6, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "Ruth Bingaman Visited Pittsburgh". The Musical Forecast. 11 (1): 10. September 1926.
  5. ↑ "Miss Ruth Bingaman of San Antonio". The Austin American. February 20, 1916. p. 14. Retrieved September 6, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. 1 2 "Ruth Herman, Noted Pianist, Visits in D.C." Times Herald. March 3, 1940. p. 39. Retrieved September 6, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Jasinski, Laurie E. (May 20, 2015). "Ruth Bingaman Smith: A Legacy in Classical Music". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
  8. ↑ "Girl Reared in Texas Will Play for Star". The Houston Chronicle. January 26, 1930. p. 47. Retrieved September 6, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ Brandenburg, A. H. (1926). The Enjoyment of Music. De Luxe Reproducing Roll Corporation.
  10. ↑ "Ruth Bingaman, Brilliant Concert Pianist, Joins Ranks of De Luxe Recording Stars". The Music Trades: 22. July 22, 1922.
  11. ↑ "KDKA Program Sunday Attractive". The Pittsburgh Post. August 18, 1923. p. 2. Retrieved September 6, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "'A Night in Naples' on Air". The Pittsburgh Post. September 14, 1926. p. 12. Retrieved September 6, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ "Brooklyn-Paramount Theatre Opens". The Metronome. 44 (12): 38. December 1928.
  14. ↑ "Knoxville Symphony Orchestra to Give Concert Today". The Knoxville Journal. December 10, 1939. p. 31. Retrieved September 6, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "Mrs. Herman Will Present Concert Sunday". Hattiesburg American. February 24, 1945. p. 5. Retrieved September 6, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ "Class of 1920". Princeton Alumni Weekly. 50 (30): 22–23. May 26, 1950.
  17. 1 2 "Concert to Feature 3 S.A. Composers". Express-News. June 4, 1967. p. 86. Retrieved September 6, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ Library of Congress Copyright Office (1918). Catalogue of Title-entries of Books and Other Articles Entered in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, Under the Copyright Law. U.S. Government Printing Office (published 796).
  19. ↑ AMICA Honor Roll: Ruth Bingaman.
  20. ↑ Turner, Allan (August 10, 1973). "Those Old Piano Roll Blues Revived; Buffs Here for Convention". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. p. 4. Retrieved September 6, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ↑ AMICA International (June 15, 2023). AMICA San Francisco Convention, September 1-5, 1977. Retrieved September 6, 2025 – via YouTube.
  22. ↑ AMICA International (September 8, 2018). AMICA Convention, Pasadena, CA, 1980: Ruth Bingman Smith 1 of 2. Retrieved September 6, 2025 – via YouTube.
  23. ↑ "Society". San Antonio Evening News. August 25, 1919. p. 6. Retrieved September 6, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ↑ "Col. Harrison Herman". The Buffalo News. January 29, 1945. p. 6. Retrieved September 6, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ↑ "Herman, Harrison J. (691st, 5th & 7th Grp)". TankDestroyer. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
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