Nadia Boulanger and Her World

"Nadia Boulanger (1887-1979) was arguably one of the most iconic figures in twentieth-century music, and certainly the most prominent woman musician of her time. Her reputation was such that for any composer, but especially American composers--from Aaron Copland to Philip Glass--a pilgrimage to Paris to study with her was obligatory. But how to define and account for Boulanger's impact on the music world is still unclear. Composer, performer, conductor, impresario, as well as a teacher of great personal charisma and inspirational effect, Boulanger engaged in a vast array of activities in a variety of media, from composition to performance, from private lessons and lecture-recitals to radio broadcasts, conducting, and recording. Her life takes us from a time in the late nineteenth century when it was hardly conceivable for a woman to make a career in music to the moment in the late twentieth century when those careers were imaginable, thanks in great part to the example of Boulanger and others of her generation. Ultimately, this volume takes its title as a topic for exploration-looking at the geography of transatlantic and international exchange and disruption within which her career unfolded and asking what worlds Boulanger belonged to, and in what sense we can consider any of them to be "hers.""--