(1) Front design only — “Amy Beach — Great Composer and Synesthete!” Shirt is cheaper (and available in more colors) than the other shirt, that
(2) includes printing on both the front AND the back. The back includes details about her synesthesia, with a color-coded selected list of pieces indicating the colors she heard them in. This design only works on a black shirt. (direct link here https://www.bonfire.com/amy-beach-with-details-on-her…/)
We are planning to add more designs to our T-shirt offerings! Sales support us, so all your holiday shopping needs can be fulfilled while also helping our feminist work!!
On Sunday November 23rd, the San Luis Obispo Master Chorale performs Amy Beach’s The Canticle of the Sun on their program Songs of Joy. The concert featuring vocal soloists, chorus, and orchestra, also includes works by Dvořák and Mozart, and will be performed at Harold Miossi Hall at the Performing Arts Center San Luis Obispo on the Cal Poly campus at 3 pm. Tickets here.
Beach’s work, a musical setting of thirteenth-century text by St. Francis of Assisi, was premiered with organ in 1928 and with orchestra in1930. In 2006, A-R Editions published an engraved and edited version of the orchestral parts, facilitating the performance of that full version.
SLO Master Chorale is also hosting two educational presentations by Prof. E. Douglas Bomberger, editor of The Cambridge Companion to Amy Beach (2023). Sat. Nov. 22, 2025, “Amy Beach and the Power of Connections” and on Nov. 23 at 1:15 pm “Dvořák, Beach, and American Music in the 1890s.”
Young Amy composes a fugue in her head. (Photo Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, Special Collections)
Celebrate Amy Beach’s 158th birthday!
Let’s celebrate recent successes, and upcoming important performances, as recognition of Beach’s music continues to grow!
A few of the recent successes:
March saw the release of a spectacular all-Beach orchestral music CD by the Munich Symphony Orchestra. Directed by Joseph Bastien, the recording features exciting first recordings (!!) of both of Beach’s concert arias Op. 18 – from Schiller’s Maria Stuart (Eilende Wolken, Segler der Lüfte), for Contralto, and Jephthath’s Daughter (Mollevaut), op. 53, for soprano. Also Beach’s song Extase, Op. 21: No. 2. Extase (Victor Hugo) in her own orchestration, and the Symphony op. 32 “Gaelic” and “Bal Masqué,” op. 22. The recording was nominated for the “Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik” (German record-critics prize).
The Expansive Canvas Conference, at Trinity College, Dublin, features an Amy Beach session on Aug. 27, including a Lecture Recital by Tammy Hensrud on Amy Beach’s “Maria Stuart: Scena and Aria” for Alto and Orchestra, Op. 18, as well as two presentations on Beach’s symphonic writing. The recitals also include Beach’s Ballade op. 6 and La Captive, op. 40 n. 1.
Amy Beach’s magnificent Piano Concerto in C-sharp minor, Op. 45 will be performed in NYC by pianist Asiya Korepanova together with Pegasus: The Orchestra under the direction of Karen Hakobyan!
Saturday, April 19, 7:30pm, Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufmann Center
‘The New World – A Journey of American Music’
Pegasus: The Orchestra
Karen Hakobyan, music director
Soloist: Asiya Korepanova, piano
Amy Beach Piano Concerto in C sharp minor, Op. 45
Nicholas Gawley ‘Appalachia’, Rhapsody for Orchestra (world premiere)
Antonin Dvorak Symphony No. 9 in E minor ‘From the New World’
We are thrilled to announce the CD album release of various Amy Beach orchestral and vocal-orchestral works by the Munich Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Joseph Bastian!
The instrumental works are Beach’s monumental Symphony in E Minor, Op. 32, “Gaelic Symphony” and Bal Masqué for Orchestra, Op. 22, and the 3 vocal-orchestral works are (1) Eilende Wolken, Segler die Lüfte, Op. 18, “Maria Stuart” (text by Friedrich Von Schiller), (2) Jephthah’s Daughter, Op. 53 and (3) 3 Songs, Op. 21: No. 2. Extase (text by Victor Hugo).
The three vocal works on this album (all première recordings) are imbued with poetry and drama. It was particularly moving for the Munich Symphony Orchestra, Joseph Bastian and the singers Angela Brower and Camille Schnoor to bring these sounds back to life for the first time in over a century, as far as is known.
Amy Beach’s magnificent Piano Concerto in C-sharp minor will be performed Saturday, October 19 @ 7:30 pm by pianist Anne-Marie McDermott with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra under the baton of newly-appointed Artistic Director Mei-Ann Chen! Info and tickets below:
We at Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy are happy to announce the release of our new Amy Beach publication, consisting of four, previously-unpublished solo piano works: Far Awa’, Op. 43, no. 4 (1936), The Lotos Isles, Op. 76, no. 2 (c.1930), The Water-Sprites, Op. 90, no. 2 “Caprice” (c.1921) & A September Forest (1930)! This new critical edition was coedited by Dr Kirsten Johnson, FRSA and our Senior Music Editor Chris A. Trotman, and includes fingering/pedaling suggestions by Dr. Johnson.
You may purchase this fine new edition from our online shop!
We at Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy are happy to announce the release of our new Amy Beach publication – Sonata for Violoncello & Piano, Op. 34 – transcribed from original violin part for violoncello. Our edition includes an edited version by cellist Pamela Frame and an unedited, direct transcription. Pamela Frame recorded her transcription, along with other works by Beach and Rebecca Clarke, in an album by Koch. You may learn more and purchase this new edition in our online shop page.
We at Women’s Philharmonic Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy are happy to announce the release of our new Amy Beach publications for piano four-hands and for two pianos. “Three Pieces for Piano Four-Hands” is a collection of three individual works, while “Variations on Balkan Themes for Two Pianos, Op. 60” is an extensive arrangement by Beach of her revised solo piano work by the same name. You may purchase these works from our online shop – here!
Special thanks to Aglika Genova and Liuben Dimitrov of the Genova & Dimitrov PianoDuo for their collaboration with our Senior Music Editor Chris A. Trotman in proofreading and recording these incredible works. Their CD album (CPO 555 453-2) is available from their website – here!
Amy Beach’s monumental Piano Concerto in C-sharp minor, Op. 45 will be performed this weekend by pianist Kara Huber and the Ashland Symphony Orchestra under the direction of brilliant conductor Michael Repper – Conductor! More info here.
In Wayne PA (not far from Philadelphia) April 13 & 14, performances of Amy Beach’s moving choral-orchestral work, “Canticle of the Sun.” More info on the flyer below!
A translation by Matthew Arnold of a 12th-century text by Saint Francis of Assisi, Beach came across the poem by accident in the summer of 1923 when she had just arrived at the McDowell artists’ retreat. She was “forcibly” taken by it: “I went out under a tree, and the text took complete possession of me. As if from dictation, I jotted down the notes of my ‘Canticle.’ In less than five days, the entire work was done.” (_Amy Beach, Passionate Victorian_, p. 233 by Adrienne Fried Block)
Excerpts of “Because I Could Not Stop,” based on Emily Dickinson’s poems and letters with music by Amy Beach, will be broadcast on Classical NEPM on Sunday, March 31 at 7 p.m.
It’s rare that a major piece of Beach scholarship comes along, one that enriches our understanding of the composer with a vast amount of insightful detail and perception. The Cambridge Companion to Amy Beach is a newly published volume that will be essential reading for a wide range of music lovers.
Edited by distinguished scholar E. Douglas Bomberger, here is the volume’s Table of Contents
Part I. Historical Context:
Between composer’s desk and piano bench: Amy Beach’s life and works — E. Douglas Bomberger
Amy Beach and the women’s club movement — Marian Wilson Kimber
‘A reality of glorious attainment’: Amy Beach’s Macdowell colony — Robin Rausch
Amy Beach and her publishers — Bill F. Faucett
Part II. Profiles of the Music:
Amy Beach’s keyboard music — Kirsten Johnson
Songs of Amy Beach — Katherine Kelton
‘Worthy of serious attention’: the chamber music of Amy Beach — R. Larry Todd
The power of song in Beach’s orchestral works — Douglas W. Shadle
Choral music — Matthew Phelps
Beach’s dramatic works — Nicole Powlison
Part III. Reception:
Phoenix redivivus: Beach’s posthumous reception — E. Douglas Bomberger.
As our catalogue of music publications by Amy Beach continues to grow, we are reminded of this well-deserved Boston Globe review of Beach’s “Jephthah’s Daughter” for Soprano & Orchestra, Op. 53, brilliantly performed by soprano Sarah Pelletier and the New England Philharmonic! You may read the review below or visit the Boston Globe site.
As part of our celebration of her extraordinary life and work, we at Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy will soon be releasing our edition of four, previously-unpublished solo piano works, including her exquisite “A September Forest.” You may learn more about this work by Amy Beach and others by visiting our Publications Page.
The Lux Choir will be performing Amy Beach’s choral music in Maryland & DC on Aug 11 & 12! The program includes (1) The Greenwood, (2) Dusk in June, (3) Help Us, O God and (4) When the Last Sea is Sailed, together with works by Reger, Rachmaninoff & Dett. For more info, feel free to visit their website.
Congratulations and Brava to Miriam Terragni (flute) & Catherine Sarasin (piano) on their recently-released CD album entitled Female Composers of the Romantic Era, Vol. 2, which features their flute/piano arrangements of Amy Beach’s Violin Sonata and Amanda Maier-Röntgen’s Violin Sonata in B minor!! More info and where to purchase this wonderful addition to the growing Amy Beach discography may be found at this link.
The premiere of Amy Beach’s Eilende Wolken, Segler der Lüfte (or Wand’ring Clouds, sail through the air) from Maria Stuart: Scena & Aria for Alto & Orchestra, Op. 18 will take place on February 4, 2023 in Bismarck, ND, featuring soprano, Tammy Hensrud, as part of the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra‘s program entitled American Women! The soloist and orchestra will be performing from the first published edition of Maria Stuart available from Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy. The concert will also include Florence Price‘s Symphony No. 4! More info and tickets may be found at this link.
This weekend, Jan 6-8, the Vancouver Symphony will be joined by violinist Henning Kraggerud to perform works by Grieg, Mozart and Amy Beach’s Romance for Violin, Harp & Strings, arranged by Chris A. Trotman, Director of Publications for Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy! For more info and tickets, please visit the link below:
Happy Birthday, Amy Beach! She was born Amy Marcy Cheney on this day in Henniker, NH. In celebration we are giving away copies of our critical edition of Mvt. II — Alla siciliana — from her Symphony op. 32, “Gaelic” — please fill out this form to receive your PDF copy! Supplies are limited; this offer is valid through Sept. 12, 2022
Will you come and listen? Among other things, we sing very beautiful a cappella pieces by Amy Beach, gems for a women’s choir. For the first time we perform in the chapel of the Eemklooster, a beautiful location for a program around Shakespeare, with music about elves, witches and other creatures in a special forest. Twan Vet, city poet of Amersfoort, has written very beautiful connecting texts, including a crash course in poetry. We are getting fabulously guided on the wing by Irina Parfenova.
Surely Amy Beach is so well-known that we don’t need to advocate for her any more, right? Wrong! Here’s an important AMAZING piece that will receive its WORLD PREMIERE on Dec. 5.
As part of his series entitled “Symphonies and Concertos without Orchestra (a Covid Compromise),” Daniel Glover will be playing Beethoven’s 3rd Piano Concerto with Beach’s Cadenza this Friday, Dec. 18 at 7pm. The YouTube link for viewing the concert is https://youtu.be/w-WEHzbB40M, and the concert recording will remain available.
As part of their program entitled “She’s the First: Music to Celebrate the 19th Amendment’s Centennial,” the Boston Landmarks Orchestra together with soprano Brianna J. Robinson performed the world premiere of Amy Beach’s “The Year’s at the Spring” and “Ah, Love, but a day!” arranged for soprano, piano and string orchestra!
“The Bird Known Best by Composer Amy Beach” – an article about Amy Beach during one of her many residencies at the MacDowell Colony and her encounter with the Hermit Thrush that inspired her two solo piano works based on its birdsong!
Concerto pianist, Asiya Korepanova, will be joined by Orchestra Miami under the direction of Elaine Rinaldi to present their program entitled “Miami Mujeres,” which is in honor of the 100th Anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment giving Women the right to vote! The concert will also include works by three other note-worthy women composers – Tania León, Amy Beach, Florence Price and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich.
The concert takes place at 8:00 PM on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2020, at First Miami Presbyterian Church, located at 609 Brickell Avenue, Miami, FL 33131. VIP tickets, which include the post-concert reception and a reserved seat, are $60 per person. General admission seating for the concert only is priced from $5 to $40. Limited free parking is available at the church parking lot; spillover parking is available at the Bank of America parking garage adjacent to the church. Tickets and complete information can be found at www.orchestramiami.org or by calling (305) 274-2103.
