Amy Beach

Amy Beach, co-founder and president of the Association of American Women Composers, was an American composer and pianist. She is thought to have been the first woman in the United States who had a symphony published and performed by a professional orchestra – her “Gaelic Symphony” was premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1896. Despite her success as a pianist and composer, her husband requested that she reduce her concert activities to two performances a year. After her husband’s death, she resumed her career and undertook a three-year concert tour of Europe.