WOMEN WHO DARED Maud Powell and Edna White At a time when most women stayed home to raise children, violinist Maud Powell and trumpeter Edna White thrilled millions with their performances. Susan Fleet dares to uncover important stories about musical women. Read this important book to discover what women have accomplished in Music. --Virginia Eskin, Concert pianist, Northeastern University artist in residence
Susan Fleet is an expert on American female musicians who deserve wider recognition in the history of jazz and classical music, women like Maud Powell and Edna White, whose careers flourished during the 20th Century -- Matt Morrell, "Jazz at WGBH", WGBH-FM, Boston. |
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Hear Maud and Edna play! See dozens of photographs! On your Kindle The link below will take you to your Amazon store
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Buy the PDF version with links to dozens of photos, audio and video examples! |
"Fleet's insightful writing, filled with contextual information and accompanied by photographic and audio documentation, makes for a compelling introduction to this long-awaited series." -- Monique Buzzarté, trombonist and Meet-the-Composer Soloist Champion | |
Maud was the first instrumentalist to record for RCA Victor in 1904. Edna played the first solo trumpet recital in Carnegie Hall in 1949. Their personal lives were tumultuous. At 35, Maud ignored her mother's disapproval to marry the man she loved. Edna left her first husband to marry an opera singer. Tour the Wild West with them; learn how early recordings were made; observe the rampant racism at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and the Jim Crow South. See vaudeville through Edna's eyes. Experience the hardships she faced during the 1930s Depression when she and her teenage son had only hard boiled eggs to eat. |   |
A 3-minute video about Edna White | |
Check out this 5-star review! FORGOTTEN PIONEERS: "Susan Fleet has a new project that is of great interest to those who love music of all kinds. In her research, instigated by visiting a lady in a nursing home - one Edna White - stirred her interest when she discovered Edna White had been an important and highly regarded trumpet player in the years before women musicians were considered `acceptable'. Not only did she perform playing the cornet at Carnegie Hall, but she returned some years later to again perform in the same great hall, this time on the trumpet. But that is only a sidebar in the multifaceted life and career of this great lady. She was born in 1892, endured the prejudice against women instrumentalists [and] formed her own Edna White Brass Quartet. Her life was full of colorful events mirroring the wild change in women's rights both in voting and in the field of the performing arts. She died in 1992 - after her interviews with Susan Fleet. But getting to know Edna [inspired] Susan Fleet to learn about other talented yet forgotten women instrumentalists. Maud Powell (1867 - 1919) was a gifted violinist who despite prejudices at home traveled to Europe to study her instrument. Returning to the US she found difficulties finding work until she made an appearance playing the Bruch Violin Concerto. This event opened doors for her and she was able to present the American premiers of two of the most beloved violin concertos in the repertoire - the Dvorak concerto and the Sibelius concerto! In her brief life of 52 years she did more for the cause of promoting women as superb classical musicians than just about any one else! Her life, like Edna White's is presented in all of the fascinating aspects that Susan Fleet could gather. This book is Volume I - and there are further volumes promised. These books will add to the important history of the women's rights movement as well as to the history of famous musicians of the past." Grady Harp, Vine reviewer, posted on Amazon.com, February 12 | |
