Mildred Kline, a resident of Carmel since 1971, passed away from complications related to COVID-19 on January 18, 2021 at the age of 101. She was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1919. She played piano and violin and started performing at the age of five. Following her passion, she studied music at Hunter College where she was concertmaster of the Hunter College and the Columbia University orchestras. In the late 1930s, she formed “Midge Evans and Her All Girl Orchestra” in which she and her sisters performed and later was the staff pianist at WABD in New York at the dawn of television. She met Melvin Kline, a pianist and later engineer, at a New York City booking agency. They married in 1941.
Mildred had an elementary and secondary (music) teaching credential and did graduate work at NYU and UCLA. In 1956, she and Mel moved to Los Angeles where she continued to teach school and give private music lessons. She also taught music classes at the Pepperdine University extension program. When Mel took a professorship position at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPGS), she taught violin, viola, piano and guitar to several generations of local area children, continuing teaching into her 90s.
She was the concertmaster of several local orchestras including Hidden Valley, Fort Ord and NPGS, as well as performing with the Monterey County Symphony. She served many years as a volunteer in the River School music program and was active in the Music Teachers’ Association of California, serving as president. She was also on the Board of the Chamber Music Society and cofounded a summer music camp and “Kids Up Front & Free,” a program that brought students to concerts. She was well known in the area for her music reviews and the program notes she wrote for the Sunset Center performances. She was a musician, teacher, music arranger and conductor. In addition to music, Mildred enjoyed traveling with Mel all over the world.
Mildred was preceded in death by Mel, her husband of 69 years and her sister, Charlotte. She is survived by her sisters, Norma and Jackie; children, Susan (Bill) Kapitanoff and Charles (Lanaii) Kline; grandchildren, Michelle (Darren) Winkley, Andrea Kapitanoff, Ahnika Kline and Erik (Stephanie) Kline; and great-grandchildren, Aaron and Quinn.
She was buried at Mission Memorial Park in a private service. Donations can be made in her memory to the Mildred and Melvin Kline Music Scholarship at Idyllwild Arts Academy, Idyllwild CA.
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