Maud Powell, born in Peru on 22 August 1867, became one of America’s most revered and beloved musicians through her devotion to her violin, her art, and humanity. A prodigy, she began violin study in Aurora, Illinois, studied four years with William Lewis in Chicago, and completed her training with Henry Schradieck in Leipzig, Charles Dancla in Paris, and Joseph Joachim in Berlin. She made her New York debut at age eighteen on 14 November 1885, performing the Bruch G Minor Violin Concerto with Theodore Thomas and the New York Philharmonic. Her appearance marked a new age in American culture and the rise of the modern woman, and she became America’s first great master of the violin of international rank, the first solo instrumentalist to record for the Victor Talking Machine Company’s Celebrity Artist Series in 1904, and the first violinist to introduce concertos by Tchaikovsky, Dvorák, and Sibelius to American audiences. She toured Europe, North America, and South Africa to wide acclaim, appeared with the great orchestras and conductors of her time, and performed for soldiers during World War I. Powell returned to Peru on 8 February 1908 for her first concert there, arriving in a heavy snowstorm and being brought from the railway station to the Maze home in an open carriage drawn by two white horses because only horse-drawn vehicles could get through the drifts. The sold-out concert at Turn Hall opened with “Home Sweet Home,” and for nearly two hours the audience listened in near breathless silence broken by applause. Deeply moved, she later thanked the people of Peru, LaSalle, and neighboring towns for braving the storm and for the loyalty that touched her inexpressibly. She returned again in 1910 and 1913 to give recitals benefiting the Peru Hospital Fund. Upon her death on 8 January 1920, the New York Symphony honored her as a supreme and unforgettable artist whose life and art brought inspiration to countless thousands.