Music Meets Drama

  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...

  There in front of me was a Facebook ad   - “Women of Romanticism” - concert to be held at the New York Society for Ethical Culture on March 12, 2022.     Hmmmm, that caught my interest, sounded interesting and I should probably attend.   I purchased a ticket not knowing any of the performers yet the composers Fannie Mendelssohn Hensel, Cecile Chaminade and others were familiar to me.   As I sat through the concert all I could think was, “Meeting these talented and gifted performers is going to happen.   We will, some day in the future, collaborate on a Gena concert.”   That was just the beginning of what now is three years of friendship and concertizing.     After the concert I approached soprano Stefanie Izzo introducing myself as an authority on Gena Branscombe.   Stefanie is an authority on women composers….. a lot of women composers, yet she had not heard of Gena.   We agreed to be in touch to discuss Gena songs fo...

  For Gena Branscombe the years 1919-1920 were ones of deep sorrow, depression and a time for her compositional creativity to be a healing agent following the deep loss of her 3 year old daughter Betty.   As I have written in the past, her largest work ever, Pilgrims of Destiny , was composed during these years.   Though Miss Branscombe’s 150 art songs lead the number of compositions she wrote, there were also piano and choral works, chamber music and instrumental pieces including her Sonata in One Movement for Violin and Pianoforte.   This is a tour-de-force piece that was denied publication because it was deemed too difficult by publishers.   The one movement sonata opens restless seeming to seek out its development then settles into three contrasting thematic groups.   It is florid and extroverted based in the late German romantic style.  Making its way to the concert stage, the sonata’s first performers used the original manuscript loaned ...

    The Gena Branscombe Project's May 6 th concert  at the New York Society for Ethical Culture Bringing Back Branscombe to the Upper West Side The Program:     Narrator: French Horn and Piano: Violin Sonata: Piano: Art Songs: Choral Works & Final Bow Reception: With thanks to Gary Schoichet, photograher, for the concert pictures and to Roger Branscombe Phenix for recording the concert. #BringingBackBranscombe