Marjorie Ann Hess a.k.a. Maura Bosch (born 1956) is an American composer. She was born in

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, and studied at the Hartt College of Music where she received a Bachelor of Music degree in 1978, and at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

where she received a Master of Fine Arts degree in 1982 and a Ph.D. in 2008, after studying with Alexander Lepak,

Edward T. Cone Edward Toner Cone (May 4, 1917 – October 23, 2004) was an American composer, music theory, music theorist, pianist, and philanthropist. Life and career Cone was born in Greensboro, North Carolina. He studied composition under Roger Sess ...

Milton Babbitt Milton Byron Babbitt (May 10, 1916 – January 29, 2011) was an American composer, music theorist, mathematician, and teacher. He is particularly noted for his Serialism, serial and electronic music. Biography Babbitt was born in Philadelphia t ...

and

Peter Westergaard Peter Talbot Westergaard (28 May 1931 – 26 June 2019) was an American composer and music theorist. He was Professor Emeritus of music at Princeton University. Biography Westergaard was born on 28 May 1931 in Champaign, Illinois. He pursued ...

Career

She married composer

Jeffrey Brooks Jeffrey Brooks (born 1956) is an American composer living in Minneapolis. Brooks composed the popular work ''Dreadnought'' (for wind ensemble) as well as several works for Bang on a Can. Brooks holds degrees from the University of Minnesota and Ya ...

and lived for a while in

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, where Brooks was composer-in-residence at Bath College. After returning to the United States, the couple settled in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. She co-founded and ran Corn Palace Productions, a Minneapolis music theatre company, from 1990 through 1997. The company produced dozens of new works, including three of her own operas. One of them was based on a poem by

James Merrill James Ingram Merrill (March 3, 1926 – February 6, 1995) was an American poet. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1977 for ''Divine Comedies.'' His poetry falls into two distinct bodies of work: the polished and formalist lyri ...

, with whom she collaborated in writing the libretto. She also founded and played with the ensemble Blackstone Bosch from 1997 until 2000. In 2007 Maura Bosch was in residence with the Tubman Family Alliance, a network of shelters for abused women, to compose a work based on their experiences. In 2009, Maura Bosch composed and wrote the libretto for her fourth opera, Art and Desire, about a fictional meeting between

Lee Krasner Lenore "Lee" Krasner (born Lena Krassner; October 27, 1908 – June 19, 1984) was an American abstract expressionist painter, with a strong speciality in collage. She was married to Jackson Pollock. Although there was much cross-pollination betw ...

and Clement Greenberg twenty years after the death of Krasner's husband,

Jackson Pollock Paul Jackson Pollock (; January 28, 1912August 11, 1956) was an American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. He was widely noticed for his " drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household paint onto a hor ...

Works

Bosch has composed works in a variety of genres including choral, vocal and instrumental works and opera. Selected compositions include: *''The Disappearance of Luisa Porto'', opera (1989) *''Mirabell’s Book of Numbers'', opera (1991) *''The Damnation of Felicity'', opera (1994) *''3 Hymns'' (1995) *''My Purity'' (1995) *''Zelda Songs'' (1997) *''Bronte Songs'' (1996) *''The Oxen'' (1993) *''Santuario'' (1992) for orchestra *''About the Night'' (1993) for string quartet *''The Turning'', cantata (2007) *''Art and Desire'', opera (2009) Bosch has published a text: *''Everyone can compose music'' (2008) Princeton University

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bosch, Maura 1958 births 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers American women classical composers American classical composers Living people Princeton University alumni University of Hartford Hartt School alumni 21st-century American composers 20th-century American women musicians 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American composers 21st-century American women musicians 20th-century women composers 21st-century women composers