Annette Kaufman

1914 - 2016

KAUFMAN-- Annette She was born in Chicago in 1914 and raised in North Dakota, but Annette Kaufman's passion for music set her on a fairy-tale course from the Midwest to a music conservatory in New York City where she met and fell in love with Louis Kaufman, married him at the age of eighteen and seldom left his side for the next 62 years. Mr. Kaufman, a Hollywood legend, played principal violin in�over 500 films including Casablanca and The African Queen; and, in the words of one critic, was the man "who gave American film music its voice." They lived in Los Angeles in a house designed for them by Lloyd Wright where, at the age of 101, Mrs. Kaufman died peacefully on Jan. 25, 2016. Annette Kaufman and her husband lived a life filled with music, art, travel and adventure. Her husband, Louis, wrote in his memoir, A Fiddler's Tale, co-authored with Annette, that upon his proposal of marriage Annette replied "I'd like to be your accompanist." And, indeed, in every aspect of their life together, Mrs. Kaufman was his accompanist, whether playing piano for Louis' concerts and recitals, or collecting art while on one of their concert tours, or entertaining guests including the greats of classical music, writers, actors and Hollywood directors. The Kaufmans were well-known in LA and in turn knew everyone in the pre- and post-war cultural scene. They were the first collectors of Milton Avery and, being soft-hearted and generous, were able to help many other struggling painters during Depression era America. � Traveling to Europe after the war the Kaufmans were shown an obscure piece of music in Brussels, a piece by Vivaldi, which turned out to be the Four Seasons. Mr. Kaufman was the first person to record this now ubiquitous piece of music. Even after his death in 1994, Mrs. Kaufman was still accompanying him. Outgoing and a natural-born storyteller, she was devoted not only to the memory of her husband but as well to a love of art, music and good friends. She was a vivid raconteur of a time in pre and post war Europe and Los Angeles, that, while largely faded from memory, lived on in her still ebullient recounting of it. As Mr. Kaufman wrote in his memoir, "Love was an irresistible force…" Mrs. Kaufman was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Music in 1985 by Oberlin College. She was a generous benefactor to many cultural institutions including the Library of Congress, the National Portrait Gallery, the Oberlin Art Museum and the Portland Art Museum. �