Nadia Boulanger

Pronunciation: [nädyä´ bOOläNzhA´]
1887–1979, French conductor and musician, born in Paris.

Boulanger was considered an outstanding teacher of composition. She studied at the Paris Conservatory, where in 1945 she became professor. Boulanger taught at the École normale de Musique, Paris, and (from 1921) at the American Conservatory, Fontainebleau, becoming its director in 1950. As the teacher of such American composers as Walter Piston, Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson, Roy Harris, and Marc Blitzstein, she has profoundly influenced American music. She often visited the United States, as teacher, lecturer, organist, and guest conductor of the Boston Symphony (1938) and the New York Philharmonic (1939). She was noted for her conducting of choral works. Boulanger's sister Lily (1893–1918) was a distinguished composer.