Julia Perry: Neoclassicism at its Best

We’ve featured American composer Julia Perry (1924-1979) on this blog before, but the excellence of her music—and the neglect it still faces—bears more mention. Born in Ohio, Perry received support from her parents for her musical endeavors from an early age.  A...

Thea Musgrave: Britain’s Favorite Composer

Scottish-born Thea Musgrave (b. 1928) was a student of Nadia Boulanger and Aaron Copland, and during the course of her lifetime composed 12 operas (often featuring prominent female historical figures, like Harriet Tubman and Mary, Queen of Scots) and many orchestral...

Happy Birthday, Josephine Lang!

Today is the 199th birthday of German composer Josephine Lang—born March 14, 1815 and died December 2, 1880.  Born in to a musical family (with a violinist for a father and an opera singer for a mother), she was encouraged from the beginning and received great...

Hilary Tann

Welsh-born Hilary Tann is a contemporary  composer currently living and teaching in New York State.  She writes for large and small ensembles and her work is most often characterized as lyrical, with Tann drawing inspiration from the natural world, especially that of...

Vivian Fine

American-born Vivian Fine (1913-2000) was a child prodigy on piano and began composing at age thirteen.  She worked consistently as  composer for almost seventy years and was a student of Ruth Crawford Seeger, who saw her as a protegée. She was only sixteen when she...
Nkeiru Okoye

Nkeiru Okoye

Nkeiru Okoye was born in New York (1972), and growing up, frequently visited her father’s native Nigeria.  She won a song-writing competition at age 13, and decided to study composition seriously.   She received degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory (BA) and Rutgers...