“Miss Leila Willoughby was born in Settrington, and belongs to a well-known Yorkshire family. At the early age of six she showed signs of musical talent, and was allowed to begin to play on a small violin. Owing to residence in the country her instruction was necessarily very desultory, and not until she was about 16 did she begin regular study, when she went to Berlin for two years. After this she returned to England and began to study seriously at York, under Miss Knocker, where she remained until 1910. She then went to St. Petersburg to study under Professor Von Auer, the teacher of Mischa Elman, Zimbalist, and Kathleen Parlow. Auer speaks warmly of her abilities and predicts good things in the future.”
(From the YSO Prospectus, 1912-1913)
The oldest amateur orchestra in York