Music Meets Drama

  “I feel I must fight for (my music), because I want women to turn their minds to big and difficult jobs; not to just go on hugging the shore, and afraid to put out to sea. ”   Dame Ethel Smyth –  1902 letter to her collaborator Henry Brewster Yes, Gena Branscombe and Ethel Smyth met.   During the Summer of 1935, while Gena was visiting her daughter in England, a visit was arranged between the two composers. There must have been a shared tea with a discussion of women composers of their era! #BringingBackBranscombe

May 2026 has been bursting with wonderful news for women in music.   First came the Pulitzer Prize in Music awarded to Gabriela Lena Frank for her work “Picaflor: A Future Myth,” a 10-movement symphonic work.   The composer drew on Incan mythology telling the story of a hummingbird trying to save a future world from ecological disaster.   Commissioned and premiered by the Philadelphia Orchestra, the performance was conducted by Marin Alsop. The work was grounded in her California experience living on a farm near Mendocino close to the devastating Camp fire of 2018.   While receiving the news of her Pulitzer Prize award, Ms. Frank was at the Metropolitan Opera where rehearsals for her opera “ El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego , ” were happening prior to its opening.    The Pulitzer Prize in Music was established in 1943 with the first award going to William Schuman.   Ms. Frank joins the ranks of great women composer Pulitzer winners among them are...

  “Words, words, words, I’m so sick of words” sings Eliza Doolittle in the musical “My Fair Lady.”   Learning elocution from Professor Henry Higgins with assistance from Colonel Hugh Pickering, Eliza’s frustration was understandable.   The two men worked with her to change her cockney-flower-selling accent to an upper class high society proper English accent.   She repeated words over and over until the cockney was eliminated and her “proper” enunciation would fool people at a society ball. What does that scenario have to do with Kendall Banning, poet, and Gena Branscombe, composer?   Well, to be honest, both scenarios are about words, finding the proper words. Composers search at length for inspiring words, whether in poems, speeches or literature, that they will set to music.   From the composer’s heart, mind and soul, a melody emerges hopefully supported by lush   harmonies that combined give a deeper dimension to the meaning of the author’s wor...

  The year 2025 held for us the happiness of having the first volumes of Gena Branscombe's piano, violin and vocal music  published by One Eye Publications of Whitby, Ontario.  These are beautiful volumes that introduce musicians to her works. Recently One Eye Publications released additional volumes of Gena's music including two violin/piano works, three piano pieces and volumes of songs geared to Gena's family life. What beautiful volumes they are!   The near future holds more volumes of her music to be published - French Horn pieces and more violin/piano works.  Later there will be three volumes of art songs that singers and their collaborative pianist will love!  Stay tuned! With many thanks to Eleanor Gummer of One Eye Publications for her dedication and belief in the music of Gena Branscombe!   #BringingBackBranscombe

    This “incognito – wearing shades” picture was taken in the basement of the Library of Congress in 2007.  Dr. Sharon Johnson, Nancy Davis (piano duo performers) and I, along with my collaborator Martin Hennessy, had moments earlier performed on the stage at the Library.  What an honor to have been invited to participate in the “Women Composers of the MacDowell Colony” concert.  Those personal and musical experiences form friendships and professional relationships that last over many years.   Fun jokes, Facebook postings, Instagram pictures and emails link us together to this day.   Nearly a year ago Dr. Sharon Johnson emailed to say she owed me an email and would follow up soon.   Her school year at Houghton University was coming to an end with a full schedule of recitals, juries and final tests.   Several weeks later, Sharon and I had a Zoom meeting and had many more meetings over months that opened a door to creating a women composer...

  For over a year, The Gena Branscombe Project had been developing a concert that honored the first women composers who in 1924 were invited to join the National League of American Pen Women.   Identifying the composers, researching their works, making a list of titles, finding a theme for the program, then slowly choosing which pieces would form the   program may seem tedious, yet, “Winds of Change, Songs of Time: The Musical Legacy of the National League of American Pen Women”   was a success. With many thanks to Board member Regan Russell for creating a program celebrating the four seasons which featured 10 woman composers who were among the first to join the Pen Women and we included one 21 st century composer was genius!   Again, thank you, Regan! On February 28 th , “Winds of Change, Songs of Time: The Musical Legacy of the National League of American Pen Women” was performed at the New York Society for Ethical Culture.   With performances by p...