Dusi Mura

Mura, Dusi
September 27, 1914 - December 19, 2009
Professor Dusi Mura, beloved mother, teacher and mentor, died at her home in Santa Monica on December 19, 2009, shortly after her 95th birthday.

A resident of Santa Monica for 26 years and Santa Barbara for many years before that, she was born in Timisoara, Hungary (later part of Romania) on September 27, 1914.

She graduated from Liszt Ferencz Music Acadamy in Budapest with a degree in piano and began her performance career at 16. She moved with her parents to Bucharest where she embarked upon her illustrious teaching career in the capital city. In 1937 she married a fellow chamber musician and music historian, Jani Mura, the director of the leading Romanian news press. She became a professor at the Ciprian Porumbescu Conservatory in Bucharest, Romania's principal music academy, and her pupils performed to international acclaim, winning competitions, concertizing internationally and themselves becoming professors at the Conservatory.

Political intrigue precipitated her husband Jani's death in 1954 and forced her to leave the Conservatory. She became Music Counselor of Romanian State Radio and Television and continued to teach privately until her emigration to Israel in 1970. The previous year she had helped her only daughter, Agnes, escape from the communist regime to the UK.

Professor Mura taught at the Jerusalem Music Academy and there met her future husband, Dr. Jack Mirowitz, with whom she settled in the United States. Her master classes at her studio became legendary gathering places for students and lovers of chamber music. Until her death she continued to teach students and other teachers internationally, last in New Hampshire this November.

She is survived by her daughter Agnes Mura, son-in-law John Heinritz of Santa Monica, nephew Peter Clar of London and cousin Trudy Bowman of Palo Alto.

A Memorial celebration will take place on January 30, 2010 at 2:00 pm in Santa Monica. RSVP at (310) 393-2657. Contributions in lieu of flowers may be made at www.MaestroFoundation.com.