Rudge, Olga, 1895-

Olga Rudge was born in Youngstown, Ohio on April 13, 1895, the daughter of J. Edgar Rudge, a real estate investor, and Julia O'Connell Rudge, a singer. Around 1905, Julia Rudge moved to Europe with her three children, first to London and then to Paris, in pursuit of her singing career. Olga was educated at St. Anthony's Convent in Sherborne, England and began her musical training early, studying in Paris with the violinist Carambât.

At the outbreak of World War I both of her brothers, Arthur and Teddy, joined the R.A.F.: Arthur Rudge was killed in action in France in 1916. Olga's scrapbooks from the war are filled with notices of her playing at many war benefits and "war entertainments," some sponsored by Isodore de Lara. She also played at the Studio Meeting Society of Mrs. Katherine Dalliba-John, a patroness of Ildebrando Pizzetti who became a supporter of Rudge as well. Late in 1918, Rudge played modern Italian music with Pizzetti in a series of concerts in Italy.

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