Maria Scheepers van Dommelen (17 November 1892 - 1989) was a Belgian pianist who arranged works and premiered several concerti for the Hans piano. She also performed with the Belgian Vocal Trio and arranged music for it. She used the pseudonym Mit Scapus. Scheepers was born in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

and lived there her entire life. She studied at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp with

August De Boeck Julianus Marie August De Boeck (May 9, 1865 in Merchtem, Belgium – October 9, 1937 in Merchtem) was a Flemish composer, organist and music pedagogue. He was the son of organist and director Florentinus (Flor) De Boeck (1826-1892) Career Fro ...

. As a concert pianist, she presented many concerts with pianist

Flore Levine-Cousyns Flore Levine-Cousyns was born in Antwerp in Belgium on December 6, 1898 and died in Antwerp on April 14, 1989. She was a concert pianist, Professor of Piano at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp (1931-1964) and was appointed Chevalier de l’Ord ...

. She performed with the Belgian Vocal Trio with Roitel and Tolkowsky, and arranged over 60 songs for the trio. She also served as president of the ''Concerts de Midi d'Anvers''. In 1926, Pierre Hans commissioned August De Boeck to compose a concerto for the Hans piano. Hans was an engineer with very thick fingers, who had asked the French firm

Pleyel Ignace Joseph Pleyel (; ; 18 June 1757 – 14 November 1831) was an Austrian-born French composer, music publisher and piano builder of the Classical period. Life Early years He was born in in Lower Austria, the son of a schoolmaster named Ma ...

to build a piano he designed with an upper keyboard and a lower keyboard tuned a half tone apart. Scheepers created the solo Hans piano part for De Boeck’s concerto and premiered it. She also premiered Hans piano concerti composed by Ernest d’Agrèves, René Barbier, Pierre Hans, and Carl Smulders. She taught Hans piano courses at conservatories in Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, and transcribed pieces for regular piano so they could be played on the Hans piano. Her manuscript for the De Boeck concerto is archived at the

Letterenhuis The Letterenhuis ("House of Literature") is a Belgian non-profit organization located in Antwerp. The Letterenhuis collects and archives information of Flemish writers and artists, and portraits concerning Flemish culture as from 1750. The ''Let ...

in Belgium. The Hans piano was very expensive to build and fell out of use after World War II.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scheepers, Maria Belgian pianists Belgian women pianists Belgian music educators Belgian women music educators Music arrangers 1892 births 1989 deaths Pseudonymous artists