Music Meets Drama

  In the near future, there will be many more postings  about the Gena Branscombe concert in her hometown of Picton, Ontario. With many thanks to Margaret Haylock and the Wellington Times for the article linked below! https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=https://wellingtontimes.ca/branscombe-comes-home/&ct=ga&cd=CAEYACoUMTczMzI1NTcyNDU2MTE4MDcyNzEyGjEwYmNmZjIyZjJiMmVhYmU6Y29tOmVuOlVT&usg=AOvVaw2aPuVFdDa3DVmwv_WdkQF6 #BringingBackBranscombe

Today the Picton Gazette published an article about the upcoming "From Picton to the World: Bringing Home the Music of Gena Branscombe" concert.  A great article explaining the importance of Gena Branscombe and our work to bring her home!  Please join us on August 15th at the Picton United Church.....4 PM. https://pictongazette.ca/post/the-countys-composer #BringingBackBranscombe

I will be featuring quotes from women composers about their journey, their perceptions of being a woman composer and how the world perceives their works.  Enjoy!   I start with Miss Branscombe, of course.     “Composers are people born with some sort of sensitive inner mechanism that picks up sounds – vibrations – which other people do not hear.   Composers feel that there is a Realm of Music, a place where it exists in its perfection, and that they can tune in to it, as it were. Composers feel that they’re just channels, humanly speaking, through which the music flows.   And the truly great composers are those born with a mechanism so good that they hear more clearly than lesser composers.” And the truly great composers are those born with a mechanism so good that they hear more clearly than lesser composers.” Gena Branscombe speech presented at Beta Sigma Phi circa 1957 #BringingBackBranscombe

  “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...

With a four day visit to Picton, Ontario, Gena Branscombe's hometown, Dan Ryan and I were busy meeting Mayor Ferguson, the Black Prince Winery, visiting Picton United Church with Debra Marshall showing us around, meetings with Picton historians Liz Driver and Peter Lockyer and being interviewed by the Picton Gazette, your TV and radio station County FM.  It was a whirlwind trip yet rewarding beyond belief.   We'll see you in Picton on Saturday, August 15 at 4 PM at the Picton United Church for the "From Picton to the World: Bringing Home the Music of Gena Branscombe" concert.  Gena's music about Canada will be performed by local Canadian musicians.  And, the concert will come to a close with Dan Ryan teaching the audience three of Gena's choral works.  We will sing her work "Our Canada from Sea to Sea" to end the concert.   Buy tickets at www.thegenabranscombeproject.com - see the flyer below.   Now in the 21st century we invite you to ...

With many thanks to Margaret Haylock for authoring this article about the Gena Branscombe concert in Picton, Ontario on August 15, 2026. To say the least, The Gena Branscombe Project is thrilled to bring her music home! If you are in the area, please plan on attending. https://www.intelligencer.ca/news/local-news/picton-to-the-world-concert-celebrating-music-of-gena-branscombe   #bringingbackbranscombe #genabranscombe #womancomposer #CanadianComposer #pictonontario #BringingBranscombeHome #Canadianmusic #MargaretHaylock #TheGenaBranscombeProject #FromPictontotheWorld #OurCanadaFromSeatoSea  

The Gena Branscombe Project along with One Eye Publications and the Picton United Church are happy to announce the "Bringing Gena Branscombe Home" concert. The concert will be held at the Picton United Church in Picton, Ontario on Saturday, August 15, 2026. We honor Miss Branscombe's Canadian heritage with a program of her Canadian compositions. We hope you will join us to celebrate Miss Branscombe's musical homecoming! To say the very least, we are thrilled that Miss Branscombe's music will be heard once again in her beloved hometown of Picton.  Included in the program will be her songs with poetry by her mother Sara Allison Branscombe and Canadian poets Arthur Stringer and Katherine Hale.  Her piano pieces composed while living in Picton and scenes from her unfinished opera "Bells of Circumstance" will be performed.   #BringingBackBranscombe

  Recently the Canadian Music Centre honored Miss Branscombe by naming her an Associate Composer.  https://on.cmccanada.org/earmark-gena-branscombe/ https://collections.cmccanada.org/final/Portal/Composer-Showcase.aspx?lang=en-CA Miss Branscombe lived most of her life in the United States, but, she was first and always a Canadian.   She was born in Picton, Ontario in 1881 where she began her musical training. During her adult life  she returned to her beloved home frequently performing concerts and visiting with friends and family.    The Bay of Quinte was her place of inspiration for water calmed her and allowed her musical creativity to bring forth her beautiful music. Canada was in her heart.  Gena composed works that honored the country of her birth; its history, culture, nature's beauty   and military.   Congratulations, Miss Branscombe…..a well-deserved honor.   #BringingBackBranscombe

In 2018 two recordings were released that included works by Gena Branscombe.   Orchestral music of American composers from the late 19 th century and early 20 th century represents one of the CDs.   The second recording features the piano music of 13 American women composers.   American Romantics III garnered the Lansdowne Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Reuben Blundell, the Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for the Performance of American Music.   Recording the music of David Stanley Smith, Carol Busch, Edward MacDowell, Charles Wakefield Cadman, Cecil Burleigh, Ludwig Bonvin and Gena Branscombe – not all the composers are familiar names to everyone, the music is beautiful and a tribute to  the wide range of American music.   Congratulations.   Gena’s piece on this CD, “A Memory” was originally composed for violin and piano.   As a gift to the founder, Edwin Fleisher, of the Philadelphia Symphony club, composer William Happich arranged...

Please click on the link below to read a recently published article I wrote for the Association of Canadian Women Composers Fall/Winter Journal.   Entitled, "For the Love of Two Countries", the article focuses on the music Gena Branscombe wrote for her country of birth, Canada, and her adopted country, the United States.   Her song settings and her oratorio, Pilgrims of Destiny  allow her to share her dedication to and love of both countries.   When the journal opens in your browser, scroll down to page 5.  Enjoy! https://acwcweb.files.wordpress.com/2018/12/acwc-afcc-journal-fall-winter-issue-2018.pdf Composer Gena Branscombe #BringingBackBranscombe