Oliver Chalifoux

Oscar and Alice Halle Chalifoux, c. 1925

Oliver Chalifoux came to Birmingham in 1890 to operate a branch of the Chalifoux Department Store founded by his brother, Joseph, in Lowell, Massachusetts. He supervised the construction of the Chalifoux Building in 1893.

Later Chalifoux, a trained violinist and composer who had studied at the Conservatory in Paris, opened a music store under his name at 1917 4th Avenue North. The home he shared with harpist Alice Halle Chalifoux hosted the organizational meetings of the Birmingham Music Study Club.

The couple had four children, the youngest of whom, Alice, followed in her mother's footsteps and became a world-renowned harpist with the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra.

References

• Musical Alabama (1925) Montgomery: Alabama Federation of Music Clubs/Paragon Press.