Music Meets Drama

  A week spent in Picton, Ontario, Gena Branscombe’s hometown, was a week spent immersing ourselves in Gena’s history.   Whether it was donating items to the museum, being in the Picton United Church where her family was members, or walking the streets realizing that many of the buildings and homes were in existence while she grew up; we were in her space!  In early July an email from Diane Berlet of the St. Alban’s Centre in Adolphustown arrived in my inbox.   Just a short drive and ferry ride from Picton, Diane invited The Gena Branscombe Project people to the St. Alban’s Centre for a guided tour of the Centre, previously a church.   Diane’s narration described the importance of the church and surrounding area to Gena’s family.   Her mother’s extended family, the Allisons, were settlers who received parcels of land for farming and were members of the church.   An added reason for our invitation was to see the candlestick holder and plaque over the ...

At times Ebay will offer wonderful treasures that must be purchased!  Two weeks ago Gena Branscombe's original published piano suite "In a Fairy Garden" appeared for sale.  Dedicated to her oldest daughter, Gena Tenney, who in 1915 was a four year old when Arthur P. Schmidt Company released it for sale. Obviously Gena knew her daughter's pianistic abilities when she composed these pieces. Fast forward 110 years to 2025 when Eleanor Gummer of One Eye Publications in Whitby, Ontario republished "In a Fairy Garden" with a colorful fairy cover appealing to children and adult piano students.  With many thanks to Eleanor Gummer for her dedication to publishing Gena Branscombe's music in the 21st century.   Over 100 years ago these piano pieces were charming and appropriate for young children or adults learning to play piano.  The same holds true today.  Music crosses the path of time to reach the depths of our souls. #BringingBackBranscombe  

  Back in 2005 I received an e-mail from Elsa Jean Davidson informing me she had in her possession the two Branscombe Choral scrapbooks that dated from 1934-1954.   Her grandmother and mother had been members of the Choral and were   keepers of the scrapbooks.   The scrapbooks were handed down to Elsa Jean to preserve.    The Branscombe Choral scrapbooks  reside with Gena Branscombe’s collection at the New York Pu blic Library for the Performing Arts.  Scrapbooks – books that hold mementos, pictures, documents, dried leaves or flowers, postcards, letters, announcements and more.   They help us reach back to precious memories of times gone by whether joy-filled, bittersweet or sad.   Scrapbooking is personal storytelling! In 1872 Mark Twain, the author of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, patented a self-pasting scrapbook that had an adhesive grid pattern on each page.   Who knew this famous auth...

Today marks 45 years since Gena Branscombe left this world.  Surviving her were daughters Gena Tenney Phenix and her husband, Philip, Dr. Vivian Tenney, two grandsons and her extended family known as the Branscombe Choral.    Gena founded the Branscombe Choral in 1934 and remained its conductor, composer and arts administrator until 1954.   Looking over the twenty years of Branscombe Choral programs one can easily see numerous women who sang every concert while others sang only a few concerts.     After the disbanding of the chorus, Gena wrote letters and notes to members sending them articles about her and her music career.   There were always good wishes sent to the members, comments and questions about their families and more.     Recently my friend Peggie Biscaye Oury, whose mother and two aunts were long time members of the Branscombe Choral, mailed me a note she found in her mother’s files which also included Gena’s New York...

Dating back to 1929 the six degrees of separation theory was first proposed by a Hungarian writer, Frigyes Karinthy.   By 1967 a sociologist tested the theory and proved that an unknown person is connected to someone you know through six other people.   The theory proves how small the world is. Then, there are experiences where the separation is even smaller, maybe one degree of separation.   Recently it came to me that through one degree of separation I had known of a child who died in the 1918-1919 flu epidemic, the Spanish flu.   Yes, this was a century ago. Reading Dr. Laurine Elkins Marlow’s dissertation on Gena Branscombe, the composer recounted the influenza outbreak and how it tragically affected her family.   Their three year old daughter Betty died of the flu. Reading the description of the family’s illness with Gena caring for her husband and three daughters was heart-wrenching. Later I had the privilege of meeting Gena Tenney Phenix, ...

As prolific a letter writer and correspondent as Miss Branscombe was, it never ceases to surprise me when one of her letters appears on E-bay for sale.   For many years the owner of the letter held onto it.  They or someone processing their estate made the decision to put it up for sale.  Maybe there was hope that a Branscombe family member or someone with knowledge of the writer would purchase the letter understanding the importance of its message. An undated letter of Miss Branscombe’s was listed on E-bay and, of course, I acquired it.  The address at the top of the letter is 180 Claremont Avenue, New York, NY where she resided with her family after their return to the city from Mountain Lakes, NJ.  The salutation is to a Miss Diane. The first paragraph acknowledges that Gena knew Diane’s mother and that she had driven by their “fine old place” belonging to the family.  Apologies are said for Diane’s mother not feeling well.  There is...

Among my most treasured items is a packet of letters, Christmas cards and birthday cards from my Grandma Shimeta.  The envelopes and letters are tied together with a ribbon.  They represent my communication with my Grandma from my college years until I was married.  There in her shaky penmanship she tells me about her garden, fruit trees in her yard, my cousins, aunts and uncles, her neighbors, which people stopped by her house for a visit and stayed for dinner and what she would be doing for any given holiday.  Her word usage and verb conjugations are, if nothing else, creative as English was her sixth language and she only had an eighth grade education.  Yet, as I read them I can see her sitting at her kitchen table writing, smell the food she may have cooked for lunch or dinner and imagine being in her presence or staying in her warm, inviting home.  Those pieces of paper, my Grandma’s letters, are my history with her. Letters……hand written letters ...

In previous posts I have often recounted how generous the Branscombe/Tenney/Phenix family has been to me.  My recent correspondence with Gena Branscombe's grandson, Roger, has included a request for a copy of an article she wrote in 1956.  Roger was sure it was in his family files and quickly sent me a pdf copy and along with that article were copies of programs of her music performed in Plymouth, Massachusetts.  My research and reading continues! As always, Roger, in his search for the things I request, seems to find additional materials or pictures he wants to share with me.  These items take me by complete surprise. This picture arrived in yesterday's e-mail.  The image took my breath away as it is the first picture of Gena Branscombe I have seen where she is smiling....truly smiling and her face is filled with love for her two daughters which she holds in her arms.  What a joyful picture to share with you my readers! Tha...

Many of my blog posts of the past have made mention of Gena Branscombe and John Tenney’s four daughters. There have been pictures of the girls added to the blog entries showing a small slice of their family life. I have not written about the lives and careers of the Tenney girls so now it is time to bring them forward as an important part of Gena’s life as a working mother and musician. Gena and John were married October 5, 1910 at the First Methodist Church of Picton, Ontario. Shortly thereafter, they made their home in New York City. Family life had to have been hectic with two working parents. Each day Gena devoted time for her career with the help of a nurse to care for the children. As an accompanist she coached and prepared singers for performance. Meetings with woman composers such as Amy Beach, Harriet Ware and others took place in her piano studio. Gena’s involvement with women’s organizations and her conducting duties took a great deal of her time, yet, there was alway...

A husband in the early 1900’s …..the social mores of the day seem to tell us that he would have been head of the family, the sole bread winner, what he said was the word of the household, and family life revolved around him at his beck and call. Household duties such as cleaning, meals, entertaining and the raising of children would have been his wife’s duties. Imagine my surprise when I first met and interviewed Gena Tenney Phenix and her husband, Phillip, and asked Mr. Phenix what his father-in-law was like. His answer was straightforward, “My father–in-law was a saint.” Not quite expecting that answer, I hesitated before asking him to explain himself. Mr. Phenix proceeded to inform me that his father-in-law, John Ferguson Tenney, Gena Branscombe’s husband, was a man ahead of his time and one who fiercely believed his wife’s career was as important as his own. Gena and John’s marriage was one of equality. So who was John Ferguson Tenney and how 100 years ago did he become a...