Elise Hall (15 April 1853 in Paris – 27 November 1924 in Boston) was one of the first prominent female

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

s in the United States. She founded the Boston Orchestral Club. She was a patron of saxophone repertory and commissioned scores from modern French composers such as

Claude Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

's ''Rapsodie pour Saxophone et Orchestre'', as well as music from

Vincent d'Indy Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy (; 27 March 18512 December 1931) was a French composer and teacher. His influence as a teacher, in particular, was considerable. He was a co-founder of the Schola Cantorum de Paris and also taught at the Par ...

André Caplet André Caplet (23 November 1878 – 22 April 1925) was a French composer and conductor of classical music. He was a friend of Claude Debussy and completed the orchestration of several of Debussy's compositions as well as arrangements of severa ...

, Léon Moreau and other composers of the day. At age 47 she began to study saxophone with

Georges Longy Georges Longy (1868 – 1930) was a French-born oboist, conductor and composer. He is the founder of Longy School of Music. Personal life Longy was born in Abbeville, France on August 29, 1868.Jeskalian, Barbar"Georges Longy" retrieved on 24 Octobe ...

.Blum, Jonathan (2008)
"''Rapsodie pour Orchestre et Saxophone'' by Claude Debussy"

Western Kentucky University Western Kentucky University is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a quarter-century earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glasgow, Elizabethtow ...

. Retrieved 5 February 2015.

References

American saxophonists 1853 births 1924 deaths {{US-classical-musician-stub