Tiburon's Donna Kline wrote biography of prominent female pianist

Donna Kline, a former Tiburon Heritage and Arts commissioner who wrote a book on one of the most prominent female concert pianists of the early 20th century, died of mesothelioma July 1 in San Francisco. She was 89.

Kline, herself a pianist, was first inspired to write about Olga Samaroff for her master’s thesis at San Francisco State University, where she was studying musicology. That led to her writing the 1996 biography “An American Virtuoso on the World Stage: Olga Samaroff Stokowski,” which traced not only Samaroff’s influence on her husband, conductor Leopold Stokowski, but on her contributions to music in her own right. In a time when the musical world was dominated by men, in 1895 Samaroff was the first American woman to win entrance into the piano class at the prestigious Conservatoire de Paris; the first American female pianist to make her concert debut at Carnegie Hall; the first American-born member of the piano faculty at the Juilliard School of Music; and among the first to make recordings.

The book, published by Texas A&M University Press, was turned into a one-hour documentary, “Virtuoso: The Olga Samaroff Story,” which premiered in 2010 at the Tiburon International Film Festival.

“Music was her life,” said William Corbett-Jones, a former San Francisco State professor and Kline’s former piano teacher.

Kline was born Donna Rae Staley on Dec. 23, 1934, in Kansas City, Kansas, to salesman Ellis Staley and homemaker Mabel Whitaker Staley. She had three siblings; twins Kennen and Karen Staley, who were younger, and an older sister, Lois Staley St. Pierre.

The family left Kansas before Kline turned 10 and moved to Santa Maria, in Santa Barbara County. She earned a degree in library science from Texas State College for Women and then returned to California, working as a school librarian in Palo Alto. During summers, she worked as a flight attendant for an airline that served military families, getting to visit countries such as Japan and Germany.

While working in Palo Alto, she met her husband, Sylvan Kline Jr., who was an investment counselor. They moved to Tiburon, where they raised their two daughters, Marilyn Kline and Joanne Rae Kline. Her younger sister, Karen Staley, said she had high standards as a mom, expecting her children to behave and dress properly and always write thank you notes. Staley said she teased Kline because her parenting seemed dated.

“Now I feel just grateful for knowing someone who had such decorum and graciousness,” she said. “It really matters.”

Staley said Kline took piano lessons growing up, but when she went to college, she chose to get a degree in something that would be more likely to lead to a job.

“She was trained as a librarian, but her passion was music,” said Mimi Levison, a friend of 50 years.

Levison noted Kline had two grand pianos in her living room where she and her friends would play.

“She was the most proficient in Scott Joplin’s music, and she loved playing those pieces for her friends,” Levison said.

Once her children were older, Kline decided to pursue her passion for music by receiving a master’s in musicology from San Francisco State, where she also studied piano.

“She was scared to go back to school, but she did it,” Staley said.

It was while at San Francisco State she met Corbett-Jones, who said the pair “hit it off immediately,” as Kline worked with him on some music.

“Sometimes with students it starts as a student-teacher relationship, and it generates into a friendship,” he said.

One day, Corbett-Jones said, Kline came to a piano lesson asking for advice on a subject for her master’s thesis. Given that it was the era of women’s liberation, Corbett-Jones recalled, he suggested she highlight Samaroff, the first world-famous native-born American concert pianist. He dug up an old Samaroff record from the 1920s and played it for Kline.

He said Kline was fascinated by what she heard and made a decision on the spot to write a thesis on Samaroff, which led to her desire to write a book.

She flew all around the U.S. to interview Samaroff’s family members and students, and once the book was published, she went to music-teacher conferences to promote it.

Kline’s love of music was also reflected in her volunteerism and philanthropy. She has a scholarship endowment at San Francisco State that funds two music scholarships. She also served on the board of Old First Concerts, which hosts classical, jazz and world-music concerts at the Old First Church in San Francisco, from 2016 to 2022.

“She was a great spirit in meetings,” said Old First Concerts Director Matthew Wolka. “She always had almost the most energy of everyone even though she was the oldest member.”

Kline also served on the local Heritage and Arts Commission from 1998 to 2001.

She moved to the San Francisco Towers retirement community some five years ago, after her husband died, to be closer to Staley.

Staley noted she and Kline were not that close growing up because of their 11-year age difference. However, the two got to know each other better during the last few years of Kline’s life at The Towers.

“She’s a very loving person, and I just didn’t know it before,” Staley said.

Levison said Kline was a proficient reader and started the Tiburon Ladies Book Club 50 years ago; the group is still ongoing today, boasting four of its original members, she said. Corbett-Jones said Kline also joined a book club when she moved to her retirement community.

Those close to Kline highlighted her generosity and kindness.

“She was probably one of the most decent, nice, caring people who I probably could have ever known,” said longtime friend David Guggenhime. “Nothing was about her. Everything was about her interest in other people.”

Kline was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, her sister Lois Staley St. Pierre and her two daughters. She is survived by siblings Kennen and Karen Staley.

A celebration of life was held July 30 at San Francisco Towers.

Reach Belvedere, Strawberry and public-safety reporter Naomi Friedland at 415-944-4627.

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