The great Nadia Boulanger was born on September 16, 1887 in Paris, France. She was born into a highly musical family, and her younger sister, Lili Boulanger, also became a renowned composer and Nadia preserved and promoted Lili’s music for the rest of her own life, conducting and teaching her works to subsequent generations.
Nadia taught an extraordinary range of musicians, including Copeland, Bernstein, Glass, Barenboim, and Piazzolla. She was also a pioneering conductor, becoming the first woman to conduct major American orchestras, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra and New York Philharmonic.
She arguably shaped 20th-century music more through her students than through her own compositions.
“The art of music is so deep and profound that to approach it very seriously only is not enough. One must approach it with very serious rigor and, at the same time, with great, affectionate joy.”
