20th-century women composers

Catherine_van_Rennes

Catharina van Rennes (2 August 1858, Utrecht – 23 September 1940, Amsterdam) was a Dutch music educator, soprano singer and composer.
Van Rennes was the daughter of Jan van Rennes and Marianna Josepha de Jong. Among her tutors were Richard Hol and Johan Messchaert. She made a career as a singer in oratorios and was highly praised for her interpretations of Schumann Lieder. She was also known for vocal compositions. She composed and conducted a cantata for The International Alliance meeting of the women's suffrage movement held in Amsterdam in 1909 which was performed by the Queen's Royal Band.Van Rennes established her own singing school and developed her own teaching technique. Like her contemporary Hendrika Tussenbroek, she is remembered today for some popular Dutch children's songs such as "Drie kleine kleutertjes die zaten op een hek" (Three little toddlers were sitting on a fence), a translation of a Kate Greenaway verse, and "Madonnakindje" (Madonna child) as well as a religious song Kind'ren van één vader" (Children of one Father).

Marie_Jaëll

Marie Jaëll (née Trautmann) (17 August 1846 – 4 February 1925) was a French pianist, composer, and pedagogue. Marie Jaëll composed pieces for piano, concertos, quartets, and others, She dedicated her cello concerto to Jules Delsart, and was the first pianist to perform all the piano sonatas of Beethoven in Paris. She did scientific studies of hand techniques in piano playing and attempted to replace traditional drilling with systematic piano methods. Her students included Albert Schweitzer, who studied with her while also studying organ with Charles-Marie Widor in 1898–99. She died in Paris.

Daisy_Lumini

Desy Lumini, best known as Daisy Lumini (18 August 1936 - 18 August 1993), was an Italian composer, singer and stage actress.
Born in Florence, at young age Lumini graduated in piano and composition, and began her career as a composer of soundtracks and songs; she later came to fame by participating in numerous Italian television shows.Lumini, who spoke five languages fluently, during her career also toured in the United States (where she participated at The Perry Como Show and sang at Carnegie Hall), France and Germany. In the sixties, after a brief period in the cabaret, she devoted herself to the research and the diffusion of Tuscan folk music, recording many albums with the popular repertoire and put it on shows with the stage company of Beppe Chierici. After working in contemporary musical theater, in the eighties Lumini started a successful collaboration with Salvatore Sciarrino, winning the Prix Italia Award in 1985. In 1993, the day of her birthday, she committed suicide along with her husband Tino Schirinzi, struck by an incurable disease, by jumping from the viaduct under construction on the Bilancino dam near Barberino di Mugello.

Lili_Boulanger

Marie-Juliette Olga "Lili" Boulanger (French: [maʁi ʒyljɛt lili bulɑ̃ʒe] ; 21 August 1893 – 15 March 1918) was a French composer and the first female winner of the Prix de Rome composition prize. Her older sister was the noted composer and composition teacher Nadia Boulanger.

Adrienne_Clostre

Adrienne Clostre (9 October 1921 – 5 August 2006) was a French composer. She was born in Thomery, Seine-et-Marne, and studied at the Conservatoire de Paris with Yves Nat, Darius Milhaud, Jean Rivier and Olivier Messiaen.After completing her studies, Clostre worked as a composer. She won the Grand Prix de Rome in 1949, the Grand Music Prize of the City of Paris in 1955, the Florence Gould Prize in 1976 and the SACD Prix Musique in 1987. Clostre married architect Robert Biset in 1951 and had two daughters. She died in Serrières.