Mildred Weston Rogers (May 1892 - February 6, 1975) was an American composer best known for a number of children's pedagogical piano suites. Not to be confused with American poet Mildred Weston (1905-1998)

Biography

Weston was born in

Gallitzin, Pennsylvania Gallitzin is a borough in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is bordered by Gallitzin Township and Tunnelhill, all of which sit astride the Eastern continental divide. Tunnel Hill and Gallitzin both are pierced by railroad t ...

, to William and Anna Weston. She graduated from the

Pennsylvania College for Women Chatham University is a private university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Originally founded as a women's college, it began enrolling men in undergraduate programs in 2015. It enrolls about 2,110 students, including 1,002 undergraduate students an ...

(now Chatham University) in Pittsburgh in 1913, studying under T. Carl Whitmer. She pursued further studies at the

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music Music school, conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The ...

. After college, Weston taught music to kindergardeners at Miss Simonson's School in Pittsburgh. This experience informed the composition of a number of programmatic and pedagogical suites for piano, many of which were published by the Arthur P. Schmidt company (now Summy Birchard). Weston married William G. Rogers, an author and newspaper editor, on Oct 5, 1934 in Springfield.

Selected works

Her works include:

Piano

*Ten Fingers At the Zoo (1919) *Under the Christmas Tree (1920, Theodore Presser Co) *About Fairies (1922, Arthur P. Schmidt) *In an Apple Orchard (seven piece suite) *Slumber Song: Pyrenees Folk Tune (1923, published by Carl Fischer) *Sandman (1925) *Toys: A Suite for the Piano (1923, published by John Church) This suite was in the first grade of the New England Conservatory's piano teaching curriculum in 1929. *Red Riding Hood (published by John Church) *Under an April Sky (seven piece suite) *Under the Christmas Tree (1922) The eleven pieces are: ''Hobby Horse, A Doll That Goes to Sleep,The Tinkle-Tinkle Box, In a Little White Cradle, The Big Red Drum, Wooden Soldiers, Taps, The Little Pop-Gun, Jumping Jack, Candle Lighting Time'', and ''Twinkle, Twinkle, Christmas Tree''. *Goldilocks (1927, published by Arthur P. Schmidt) *The Village Green (1930, Arthur P. Schmidt) *Cinderella: A Fairy Tale (1931, Carl Fischer) *Swaying Willows: Novelty Dance on Black Keys (1934, Carl Fischer)

Prose

*Carnival Crossroads: The Story of Times Square (with her husband William G. Rogers) *music criticism for

New Yorker magazine ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

(1945)

Vocal

*Carol to the Child (1971) *Holy Family Carol (SATB; 1941)

References

1892 births 1975 deaths American women composers 20th-century American women New England Conservatory alumni {{US-writer-stub