Amy Cheney Beach was born September 5, 1867, in Henniker, New Hampshire. A child prodigy, she would become one of the most respected and accomplished American musical composers of her time. Beach debuted as a pianist at 17 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. At age 23, with no formal training, she began composing her acclaimed "Gaelic Symphony." In 1893 at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, her commissioned choral piece premiered at the opening of the Women's Pavilion. Throughout her career, she would also write hymns, chamber music, a mass, a piano concerto, an opera, and more than 150 songs. Beach toured the United States and Europe as a concert pianist, and co-founded and led the Society for American Women Composers. A pioneering composer, pianist and teacher, Beach was a national symbol of women's creative power and helped redefine the role of women in music. Featuring interviews with historians and musicians - and excerpts from some of Beach's pieces - COMPOSER: AMY BEACH chronicles a remarkable life and career that has inspired generations.
