Eau Claire Music Club pianists for May 2025 (l-r): Mary Barbara Ruschkofski, Judy Doudoukjian, Brenda Dean, Alice Tubley, Susan Von Nessen, Mary Beth McSwain, Helena Meetze, and Kathy Folks.
On Sunday, May 4, the Eau Claire Music Club presented a “piano ensemble” of four Steinways being played simultaneously by eight club members in celebration of National Music Week (sponsored by NFMC and announced by proclamation of the Honorable Henry McMaster, Governor of South Carolina) and in honor of the tradition established in 1936 by the club’s Founding Mothers, who were all piano teachers in the Eau Claire community and who performed the first “piano ensemble” at Township Auditorium with 12 members at six pianos with the University Symphony on May 1, 1936. In 1937 the “piano ensemble” became a music club of 20 members and in 1940 was federated into the National Federation of Music Clubs (NFMC) and South Carolina Federation of Music Clubs (SCFMC). Over the last 89 years, Eau Claire Music Club has replicated the “piano ensemble” concept via four events: 1968, 1985, 2019, and the recent performance in 2025.
One statement in the NFMC Collect—“to bring the spiritualizing force of music to the inner life of our nation…”—is being implemented by Eau Claire Music Club in conjunction with the Columbia Afternoon Music Club, via an annual music competition for students in grades six–college junior, who reside or are schooled in eight surrounding counties, in all categories of music performance (voice, piano, instrumental, and organ). These efforts seek to motivate and encourage music students through monetary scholarships, totaling around $4,000 each year. The Winners Recital is a varied showcase of the most talented students in mid-South Carolina and is held annually at USC’s School of Music in early March.
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