b. 1881d. 1977

Gena Branscombe

A composer, choral conductor, and important advocate of contemporary American music, Gena Branscombe started her own women's choir, the Branscombe Choral, from 1933 to 1954. Photo: Gena Branscombe, from The Year book for Canadian Art 1912/1913, public domain.

About

Born in Ontario, Branscombe was educated in Chicago, spent a few years at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, and studied in Berlin before moving to New York City in 1910, where she established her musical career.

She served as the second president of the Society of American Women Composers (the successor of Amy Marcy Beach) and began her women’s choir in 1933. She devoted the Branscombe Choral to the performances of new compositions and made a point to commission women composers for works. The Choral existed for more than 30 years and dissolved in 1954, when Branscombe was 73 years old.

Most of Brandcombe’s compositions are vocal works, and she wrote more than 100 art songs. Most of her songs were composed before the Branscombe Choral was formed.

–Christie Finn
Source: New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians

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