This preview has been provided by Meredith College.

The Meredith College Music Department will celebrate the work of composer Amy Beach during a special festival March 21-22, 2014.

The Amy Beach Festival: Celebrating the Music of a Great American Woman, will include two evening concerts that will be held at 7:30 p.m. in Carswell Concert Hall. The March 21 concert will feature Meredith music faculty, and Meredith students will perform on March 22.

The concerts include an interesting variety of Amy Beach’s music, ranging from pedagogical pieces for the piano, to art songs for voice and various combinations of instruments, to ambitious chamber works like the quintet for piano and strings. Both events will include presentations by Wake Forest University Professor of Music Susan Borwick, an Amy Beach scholar. Borwick will provide context for the pieces performed and share insights into Beach’s importance in music history.

About Amy Beach

Born in 1867, Amy Beach was the first American woman to be a successful composer. A child prodigy, Beach gave her first public performances at age 7, and was self-taught in composition. During her lifetime, when she was known as Mrs. H.H.A. Beach, she was considered the foremost woman composer in the U.S.

Beach served as president of the Music Teachers National Association and Music Educators National Conference, and was the co-founder and president of the Society of American Women Composers.

The Amy Beach Festival performances are free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Meredith College Department of Music, at (919) 760-8536.

Calendar Listing:

Amy Beach Festival: Celebrating the Music of a Great American Woman
March 21-22, 7:30 p.m.
Carswell Concert Hall

The Meredith College Department of Music will present two concerts as part of a celebration of composer Amy Beach. The March 21 concert will feature Meredith music faculty, and Meredith students will perform on March 22. Both events will include presentations by Wake Forest University Professor of Music Susan Borwick, an Amy Beach scholar. The concerts are free and open to the public.