When discussing the recent history of American music, it would be remiss to not mention the name Ruth Crawford Seeger. Her contributions as an educator to budding composers, as well as her contemporary compositions and research in folk traditions, are hugely...
As part of their on-going Classics in Concert series, NPR is hosting five nights of chamber music videocast live from WQXR’s Greene Space in New York. You can read about the series at NPR here. The series, which started April 4th, and is titled “Trout Week” in honor...
I will finish the WPA tribute to historic female composers by remembering the life and music of Vítězslava Kaprálová (1915-1940). Though she lived a tragically short life, she made a dramatic impact as a composer and conductor. Czech by birth, Kaprálová studied at the...
Marion Bauer (1882-1955) was born in Walla Walla, Washington to immigrant French Jewish parents. She studied piano from a young age, later refining her talent in piano and composition at the Paris Conservatory. While in France she was the first American student of...
Born in Moscow in 1899, Sophie Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté studied piano, violin, and composition at the Paris Conservatory and continued her music education in Berlin. In her youth she toured extensively as a pianist and violinist, often performing her own works. After...
Another example of being fortunate enough to be born into a musical family lies with Josephine Lang (1815-1880). Her father, Theodor, was a violinist and her mother, Regina Hitzelberger, was an opera singer. They supported their daughter in her musical ambitions,...
