Weigl, Vally (1889–1982)

Austrian-born American composer, music therapist, and lecturer. Name variations: Valery Weigl. Born Valery Pick in Vienna on September 11, 1889 (some sources cite 1894 or 1899); died in New York on December 25, 1982; daughter of Josef Pick (a prominent attorney); sister of Käthe Leichter (1895–1942), Austrian Social Democratic leader who was murdered at Ravensbrück; married the composer Karl Weigl (1881–1949).

Vally Weigl studied in Vienna under Richard Robert, Guido Adler, and Karl Weigl whom she later married. She and her composer husband came to the United States in 1938, as refugees from the Nazi occupation of their native Austria. Weigl's sister Käthe Leichter was unable to escape from Nazi-occupied Vienna, and as a Social Democratic activist soon found herself in a Nazi concentration camp, where she was killed in 1942. Weigl's first jobs in New York were teaching positions at the Institute for Avocational Music and the American Theater Wing (1947–58). A lifelong interest in music therapy motivated her to obtain a master of arts degree in that field in 1955 from Columbia University. She became the chief music therapist at New York Medical College and taught at Roosevelt Cerebral Palsy School. She also wrote music therapy programs for UNESCO. Because of her wide experience in the field of music therapy, Weigl was much sought after as a lecturer. Despite her often hectic schedule, she continued composing and was able to find some leisure time for her musical agenda as a fellow of the McDowell Colony where she was twice composer-in-residence. A committed peace activist, Weigl served as a co-founder of the Friends' Arts for World Unity Committee, and her Peace Is a Shelter for Chorus, Soloist and Piano (1970) was composed during the Vietnam War. Weigl composed well over 100 vocal pieces, a number of which have been recorded. Besides her own musical efforts, she was tireless in promoting her late husband's compositions.

John Haag , Athens, Georgia