Griffin, Beatrice.

Beatrice Griffin was born in Boston, Massachusetts. She began her violin studies at the age of four and studied under noted violinists including Emmanuel Ondricek, Richard Bargin, and Leopold Auer. The family later moved to Detroit, Michigan where Griffin continued her violin studies under Ilya Schkolnik, concertmaster of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. In 1930, the conductor of the symphony, Ossip Gabrilowitsch, mentioned to Henry Ford that Beatrice needed a better violin. Ford allowed her to borrow two violins from his collection for one year: a 1700 Stradivarius violin and a 1730 Gagliano violin. In 1934 she moved to Stockholm, Sweden with her husband Gunner Eckstrom and toured with the Stockholm Symphony Orchestra. In 1946 she returned to the United States and toured with the North Caroline Symphony Orchestra and the Kansas City Philharmonic. When she was not touring she lived in Woodstock, Vermont. In 1963 she retired from performing life and moved to Chelsea, Massachusetts.