|
|
The Luise Greger Institute - Luise Greger International Music Festival, Kassel, Hesse, Germany, October 18-20, 2019
Elizabeth (Greger) Derrig, founder of The Luise Greger Institute for the Advancement of Women in the Arts is the great great granddaughter of Luise Greger, who was a famous composer in Germany, but whose works were lost with the rise of the Hitler and WWII. There are some interesting connections between Luise and Langley. “The Father of Langley”, Jacob Anthes, came to Langley from Hesse, the same state in Germany where Luise lived and performed. Born in 1865, he was 14 when he landed on Useless Bay. Derrig and her husband bought a cabin there in 2006. After several successful Luise Greger Women in Music Festivals in Langley and on Useless Bay, Derrig is organizing a trip to Hesse for the Luise Greger International Music Festival, October 18-20, 2019.
Born in Germany in 1862, Luise Greger began her musical life as a piano prodigy at the age of five, and was composing by the age of eleven. She was a prolific composer, recognized as one of the greatest musical artists of the Romantic era. Then she was euthanized in 1944, a victim of the Nazis. Though much of her work was destroyed or lost during WWII, her family made a rare discovery of 170 of Luise’s art songs in an old iron trunk at the family home in Kassel, Hesse, Germany. Her work has since been revived in concerts and radio programs throughout Germany and in the United States, including here on Whidbey Island.
In August 2015, in collaboration with REC Music Foundation and Island Consort, the Luise Greger Women In Music Festival began in Langley. The concerts feature works by Luise Greger and other notable female composers of the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as works by regional contemporary women composers performed by female artists. The first Luise Greger Women in Music Festival featured the most award winning classical singer Mezzo Soprano Eleni Matos accompanied by nationally and internationally recognized virtuoso collaborative pianist Rebecca Wilt performing at the Whidbey Island Center for the Arts Main Stage.
The Luise Greger Women in Music Festival has grown from 2-4 days, held at varying island venues and in Seattle. Concerts have included performances by Matos, soprano Fumi Tagata, Seattle based violist Roxanna Patterson, Whidbey Island violinist/violist Cynthia Morrow and pianist Sheila Weidendorf, the founder of Island Consort. Currently Weidendorf also is the REC Music Foundation’s Artist-in-Residence at Crawford House B & B in Langley. It was there, in 2013, Derrig first heard Luise’s songs performed live in the US, by the world renowned mezzo soprano Matos, and where, in 2015, Weidendorf and Morrow together performed Luise’s songs in an intimate opening salon for the first annual Luise Greger Women in Music Festival.
Many of Luise’ s descendants have come to visit Whidbey. Now, after decades of searching, another discovery of Luise’s work was made when the orchestrated version of her fairytale musical “Gaenseliesel” was found at the University Library in Kassel in 2018.. As a result of the discovery, this year the International Luise Greger Music Festival is being planned in Kassel, Hesse, Germany for October 18th-20th, 2019. 2019 is the 75th Anniversary of Luise’s death at the hands of the Nazi regime.
The Luise Greger Institute is organizing a cultural exchange, bringing a group from America to Berlin (where Luise studied and performed) and for the Luise Greger Festival in Kassel, including personal tours by Luise’s great grandson, life long Kassel resident, Dr. Helmuth Greger. Kassel, also the home of the Brothers Grimm, is the site of Grimm World and center of the Fairytale Trail. Ms. Matos and Ms. Wilt will be performing a program of Luise’s lieder and Luise’s fairytale musical Gaenseliesel also will be performed at the festival with an orchestra for the first time since December, 10, 1932.
For more information contact Elizabeth Derrig at: 425-359-4040
Elizabeth (Greger) Derrig, founder of The Luise Greger Institute for the Advancement of Women in the Arts is the great great granddaughter of Luise Greger, who was a famous composer in Germany, but whose works were lost with the rise of the Hitler and WWII. There are some interesting connections between Luise and Langley. “The Father of Langley”, Jacob Anthes, came to Langley from Hesse, the same state in Germany where Luise lived and performed. Born in 1865, he was 14 when he landed on Useless Bay. Derrig and her husband bought a cabin there in 2006. After several successful Luise Greger Women in Music Festivals in Langley and on Useless Bay, Derrig is organizing a trip to Hesse for the Luise Greger International Music Festival, October 18-20, 2019.
Born in Germany in 1862, Luise Greger began her musical life as a piano prodigy at the age of five, and was composing by the age of eleven. She was a prolific composer, recognized as one of the greatest musical artists of the Romantic era. Then she was euthanized in 1944, a victim of the Nazis. Though much of her work was destroyed or lost during WWII, her family made a rare discovery of 170 of Luise’s art songs in an old iron trunk at the family home in Kassel, Hesse, Germany. Her work has since been revived in concerts and radio programs throughout Germany and in the United States, including here on Whidbey Island.
In August 2015, in collaboration with REC Music Foundation and Island Consort, the Luise Greger Women In Music Festival began in Langley. The concerts feature works by Luise Greger and other notable female composers of the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as works by regional contemporary women composers performed by female artists. The first Luise Greger Women in Music Festival featured the most award winning classical singer Mezzo Soprano Eleni Matos accompanied by nationally and internationally recognized virtuoso collaborative pianist Rebecca Wilt performing at the Whidbey Island Center for the Arts Main Stage.
The Luise Greger Women in Music Festival has grown from 2-4 days, held at varying island venues and in Seattle. Concerts have included performances by Matos, soprano Fumi Tagata, Seattle based violist Roxanna Patterson, Whidbey Island violinist/violist Cynthia Morrow and pianist Sheila Weidendorf, the founder of Island Consort. Currently Weidendorf also is the REC Music Foundation’s Artist-in-Residence at Crawford House B & B in Langley. It was there, in 2013, Derrig first heard Luise’s songs performed live in the US, by the world renowned mezzo soprano Matos, and where, in 2015, Weidendorf and Morrow together performed Luise’s songs in an intimate opening salon for the first annual Luise Greger Women in Music Festival.
Many of Luise’ s descendants have come to visit Whidbey. Now, after decades of searching, another discovery of Luise’s work was made when the orchestrated version of her fairytale musical “Gaenseliesel” was found at the University Library in Kassel in 2018.. As a result of the discovery, this year the International Luise Greger Music Festival is being planned in Kassel, Hesse, Germany for October 18th-20th, 2019. 2019 is the 75th Anniversary of Luise’s death at the hands of the Nazi regime.
The Luise Greger Institute is organizing a cultural exchange, bringing a group from America to Berlin (where Luise studied and performed) and for the Luise Greger Festival in Kassel, including personal tours by Luise’s great grandson, life long Kassel resident, Dr. Helmuth Greger. Kassel, also the home of the Brothers Grimm, is the site of Grimm World and center of the Fairytale Trail. Ms. Matos and Ms. Wilt will be performing a program of Luise’s lieder and Luise’s fairytale musical Gaenseliesel also will be performed at the festival with an orchestra for the first time since December, 10, 1932.
For more information contact Elizabeth Derrig at: 425-359-4040
