Join us for this thrilling program of sadly neglected, but incredibly powerful, piano quartets by three amazing women composers, Luisa LeBeau, Dora Pecacevic, and Amanda Rontgen-Maier—our Iron Maidens! All three works are filled with passion, power, and lyricism, and deserve to be a permanent part of the repertoire. LeBeau was a 19th century German pianist, composer and music critic who shocked the classical world by winning an international composer competition in 1882 with her Cello Sonata Op. 17. She studied briefly with Clara Schumann and also started her own music training program for young women. This quartet was premiered to great acclaim at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig in 1883. Dora Pecacevic was a member of an important Croatian Royal family whose father was Governor of Croatia and mother was a Baronness from Budapest in the early 20th century. She abandoned her aristocratic lifestyle and embarked on a musical career, studying in Dresden and Munich. Her Symphony in F Sharp Minor is considered to be the first modern symphony by any Croatian composer. She died from complications of childbirth at the age of 38. Finally, Amanda Rontgen-Maier was a Swedish composer and violinist at the end of the 19th century who studied at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm. She became friends with Grieg, Brahms, and Clara Schumann. Her Piano Quartet, composed in 1891, was her final large piece before her early death of tuberculosis at the age of 41.
The wonderful siblings, Emmanuel (violin) and Frances (cello) Borowsky will be joined by Anna Pelczer, a fantastic violist now living in Germany, and Artistic Director Daniel Weiser on piano. You will not want to miss all this incredible and unknown music!