WHM

You’ve heard so much about the sons of Johann Sebastian Bach, but there were daughters, too.Bach was 23, and his wife Maria Barbara was 24, when the first of their children was born. They named her Catherina Dorothea. CD grew into a singer, and helped out in her father’s music work. Fifteen years passed, her mother died, her father remarried, and finally, CD Bach acquired a sister: Cristina Sophia Henrietta, daughter of Johann Sebastian and Anna Magdalena Bach. CSH died at the age of three, just as another sister, Elizabeth Juliana Frederica, was born. EJF Bach would grow up to marry one of her father’s students.

The chamber music impresaria Toby Saks became a legend in the music life of the Pacific Northwest. She began her career in New York: she earned awards as a teenage cellist; she played in the New York Philharmonic in her 20s. She moved out west to join the faculty of the University of Washington School of Music, and soon gathered a group of classical music supporters to launch the Seattle Chamber Music Festival.

Helen, Countess of Rador seemed to care very little for what society said she could or couldn’t do as a Victorian Lady - so she decided to make history. Born in a tiny town in Central England, a young Helen moved to London, moved to London, married an Earl, and started her [new] life as a countess and patron of the arts.

Barbara Strozzi changed the face of vocal music with her stunning and emotional song collections. Born to a famous poet and librettist, she was encouraged to follow her artistic talents from an early age and received a musical education from other famous Italian composers. Strozzi wasn’t afraid to experiment. She made a big name herself in the 17th century, writing songs for sopranos and mezzos, and collections of non religious music; songs and texts that have lived for 400 years.

Louise Farrenc inspired the world and demanded what she deserved - something we can all aspire to. A musician, composer and teacher ahead of her time, she gained fame as an incredible performer, wrote award winning music and taught at the Paris conservatory for 30 years as the only woman on staff in the 19th century.

Mary Cornwall was born in a covered wagon in 1881, as her parents made their way from California to the Washington Territory. The family settled in Spokane, and young Mary impressed her music teachers right from the start. When her mother died, the Davenport family adopted her and moved to Bellingham.

Once upon a time in Walla Walla—it was the late 1880s—a little girl named Marion sat on a piano bench, watching and learning music skills from her older sister, Emilie Frances. Seventeen years apart in age, the Bauer sisters would eventually move to New York City, where each in her own way would help shape American music history.Their first music teacher was their mother, Julia Heymann Bauer, who taught languages at Whitman College. A Whitman College professor of our time, the violinist Susan Pickett, wrote the book Marion and Emilie Frances Bauer: From the Wild West to American Musical Modernism. Marion would study for a while in Paris, becoming the first American student of the legendary Nadia Boulanger.Emilie Frances Bauer and Marion Bauer made music history by writing, composing and teaching. Learn more about the Bauer sisters on the Fort Walla Walla website: Look among the Museum After Hours posts at fwwm.org.A Women's History Month Northwest Music Moment, on NWPB Classical.

Symphony Tacoma’s Sarah Ioannides is making history. Her Arrival in Tacoma in 2014 as the orchestra’s first woman music director brought Symphony Tacoma into what its calling “the era of Sarah.”Her energetic work on and off the podium has powered Symphony Tacoma into partnerships and performances expanding access to students and audiences beyond the historic Pantages theater, even before the pandemic made online concerts a regular part of life. Find out more about Symphony2U, Mini Maestros and SimplySymphonic and about the history making career of maestra Sarah Ioannides at SymphonyTacoma.ORG