As a child of English-speaking parents without French citizenship, Augusta Holmès was initially denied a regular musical education at the Paris Conservatory.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Augusta Holmès saw herself as a 'poet-composer' with literary ambitions, similar to her guiding star Richard Wagner, and often wrote poems as prefaces to her scores and concert programs.
Composer Biography
Augusta Holmès was a politically engaged composer who used her works to express her views, such as her rejection of England's oppressive policies towards Ireland.
Composer Biography
Augusta Holmès summarized her life by stating, 'I have had to fight, as a composer and as a woman,' and her grave in Versailles bears verses from her early symphony Lutèce.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Augusta Holmès had to publish her early works under the pseudonym Hermann Zenta because colleagues, publishers, and audiences were not ready to accept large-scale orchestral works composed by a woman.
Performer Biography
Michael Francis, the Chief Conductor of the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, was formerly a double-bass player in the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) before becoming a conductor.
Composer Biography
Augusta Holmès, born Augusta Mary-Anne Holmes, was the daughter of a wealthy Irish officer and an English mother, and began her musical studies at age eleven against her parents' wishes.
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