03/09/2026
“And Camilla—a phenomenal combination of cold & heat—stood on the stage like a statue on fire.”
We’ve got your ticket to see renowned violinist Camilla Urso in concert! All you have to do is build a time machine and go back to 1882 . . . ok, on second thought, you can meet her through our Camilla Urso collection!
Camilla Urso was one of the leading violinists of the nineteenth century, at a time when the violin was not considered to be a suitable instrument for women to play. Even so, Urso became the first female to be admitted for the study of violin at the Paris Conservatoire, and she would go on to bridge the gap from child prodigy to mature artist with a career that spanned across decades and continents.
She was born in Nantes, France, in 1840 to musical parents who immediately recognized her talent as a violinist. They moved to Paris to let Emilie Camille, as she was named at birth, enroll in the Conservatoire. Urso performed with the New York Philharmonic for the first time in 1855, when she was only fifteen years old.
Her career took a turn in 1856 when she was stranded without funds on a tour to Nashville. While there she met and married her first husband and had several children with him. Her performances continued, but at reduced frequency and seemingly only locally. Around the time the Union Army invaded Nashville in 1862, Urso lost her husband and was left to care for her children on her own. She fled north and, determined to rebuild her career, she left behind the pieces she’d performed as a child prodigy and taught herself those of the mature virtuoso. Her achievement was so momentous that it led to performances throughout North America, Europe, South America, Australia and Africa. Even so, she always considered the United States her home.
Learn more about Camilla Urso, and her inspiring and illustrious career in our digital collection linked below!
https://digital.library.sc.edu/collections/camilla-urso-collection/
