April 2018

Ludvig Albert Hegner (May 1, 1851 - Nov. 7, 1923) was a Danish double bassist and composer, born in Copenhagen. There is not a great deal known about him, and what is known mainly surrounds his work as a double bassist. Continue reading →

Marie-Juliette Olga "Lili" Boulanger (Aug. 21, 1893 - March 15, 1918) was a French composer, and  the younger sister of the famed composition teacher/composer Nadia Boulanger. Born in Paris, Lili Boulanger was a child prodigy; at the age of two, it was discovered that she had perfect pitch. Her parents, both musicians, encouraged her musical education, and she would accompany her sister Nadia to classes at the Paris Conservatory, studying music theory and organ. Her sister Nadia was one of her teachers, and later on studied with Paul Vidal, George Caussade, and Gabriel Faure, who was particularly impressed by her abilities. Lili would go on to win the Prix de Rome at the age of 19; she was the first woman to ever win the composition prize. Tragically, she died at the young age of 24. Continue reading →

Serge Alexandrovich Koussevitzky (July 26, 1874 - June 4, 1951) was a Russian composer, conductor and double bassist. Born in to a musical family, his parents taught him violin, cello, piano, and trumpet. At 14 years old he won a scholarship to study the double bass at the Musico-Dramatic Institute of the Moscow Philharmonic Society, where he excelled in his studies. Continue reading →

Henri Édouard Dallier (March 20, 1849 - December 23, 1934) was a French organist born in Reims. Dallier was a student of César Franck at the Paris Conservatory, and received a First prize diploma in organ and fugue in 1878.  In 1879 he became "titular du grand orgue" of Saint Eustache, and in 1905 succeeded Gabriel Faure as the organist of la Madeleine. Continue reading →

Dame Ethel Mary Smyth DBE (April 22,1858 - May 8, 1944) was an English composer and member of the women's suffrage movement. Continue reading →