Cincinnati Conservatory of Music - Pans Pipers Yearbook (Cincinnati, OH)

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t: A. .H-lfhrsf'. ETHEL GLENN H'IER 1924, has this to say: nEthel Glenn Hier, one of the youngest members of the tbig flvei group of American woman composers tthe other four being Mrs. H. H. A. Beach, Gena Branscombe, Harriet Ware and Mary Turner Salteri who played some of their own works at the annual meeting of the League of American Pen Women in Washington last April, is one of the few woman composers utilizing the ultra-modern ideas for compositions. At the present time Miss Hier is writing a suite scored for fiute, oboe, violin, cello and piano, which is to be' performed at the Composerst Festival of Music, to be given in Washington next April, at the Authorst Congress of the League of American Pen Women . This suite is in five movements: 1. The Night Wind Sings; 2. Foreboding; 3. Caprice; 4. Intermezzo; 5. Dance. In a recent letter to Miss Baur, Miss Hier writes: A group of Conservatory friends, who live within six blocks of each other, is meeting tonight to rehearse thiseand two others, Sarah PosSell, fiute and Albert Marsh, oboe, are invited. The others playing are: Edwin Ideler, violin; . Robert Schenck, Viola; C'Zelma Crosby, cello; Ethel Glenn Hier, piano. Other members of the Club, who will be present are: Gladys Shailer, Em Smith, Rose Schenck and Pearl Ideler. I have been invited to present this suite at the Mac- Dowell Club, March 28, also Mr. Francis Moore is playing my piano variations on the same evening . Miss Hier, a Cincinnati girl, holds a diploma from The Cincinnati Conservatory and from the Institute of. Musical Art of New York, and has also studied abroad. She is a member of the Peterborough Colony, where she has spent several Summers, a member of the MacDowell Club of New York City, and has recently been initiated as an honorary member of the Delta Omicron National Musical Sorority in Cincinnati. In 1922 she was given an honorary degree from the Conservatory and in 1924 was elected a member of the Composers, Unit of the League of American Pen Women. ' Miss Hier does not confine herself to one medium, but seems to be equally at home whether writing for voice, piano or other instruments. Miss Hier is not only a brilliant composer but a successful teacher as well, presenting her pupils in six Recitals during the year. She very naturally says, New York is terribly strenuous when you have to lead this sort of double life . 0 F Miss Hier the Washington, D. C. Star, of July 27,

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I '33. gr ii 'r '5: - CLARA GREGORY BRIDGE ISS BRIDGE is a Cincinnati girl Who received her musical education at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, being recently the recipient of the de- gree of Bachelor of Music from this school through her work in the fields of Composition and Orchestration un- der Edgar Stillman Kelley and Ralph Lyford. Beside her regular work as an eHicient member of the Junior Faculty of the Conservatory, her success as a teacher of music for the blind has attracted national attention. At an interview which Miss Bridge had with Miss Helen Keller and her teacher, Mrs. Anne Sullivan Macy, upon the occasion of their recent visit to Cincinnati, Miss Keller expressed surprise to learn about the work done at the Conservatory by Miss Bridge and became especi- ally interested in two of her former pupils, Kathleen Tur- berville, who is now in charge of the music department of three High Schools in Alabama and Florida near her home, Century, Florida, and Alicia Hardtner, of Miami, Florida, Who is now in High School preparing for a prof fession of music and literature. To Miss Bridge's knowledge no other school of music is doing just this kind of thing for pupils of defective vision and so this department of the Conservatory of Music stands unique. As there is no place where Miss Bridge could obtain training and equipment for such work, she wrote to the leading institutions for the blind seeking what help they could offer. Perkins Institute, Watertown, Massachu- setts, furnished her the greatest assistance and Miss Bridge has not only learned to read and write the Eng- lish and American Braille systems, but has Written a text- book on the teaching of music to blind people which is accepted and used in the leading schools of the country. As an example of the recognition accorded her, the State schools for the blind at Cleveland and Columbus. Ohio, sent their teachers to work with Miss Bridge and learn her methods, while inquiries have come to the Con- servatory from all over the country about this work. It is a beautiful thing for one to have been able to do for these disadvantaged folk and the Conservatory is justly proud of Miss Bridge and her work. Page 160

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HAROLD MORRIS AROLD MORRIS, B. A. University of Texas, distinguished H graduate of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, is now resident in New York, where he and his wife, Cosby Dansby, also a Conservatory graduate. with their little daughter form one of the Conservatory centers of that city. The long list of Mr. Morris's achievements mark him as one of the most promising of the .vounger American composers. His Poem for Orchestra tafter Tagore's Gitanjali'ii has been play- ed by New York Philharmonic. Joseph Stransky, conductor, Cin- cinnati Symphonv Orchestra. Eugene Ysaye, conductor, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Walter Rothwe11.conduct0r. The following tributes from critics of the calibre of Mr. Hune- ker and Mr. Finck mean much to the musical wzorld The Poem is full of passionate strivings and is scored in the Warmly colored stvle dear to the younger men. Mr. Morris has .talent, has science .--James G. Huneker, New York Times. iiThe composer has shown much ingenuity and there is a mod- ernity Which is neither Debussyan nor Stravinskyan and encourag- es bright hopes for the future. He was repeatedly called out after the performance .eHenry T. Finck, New York Evening Post. Mr. Morris's Trio for piano. violin and cello has been played by Felix Salmond, English cellist, Albert Stoessel. violinist and the composer. It was one of the five American works chosen by a committee of distinguished New York musicians and critics for the Salzburg Festival in 1923. Of it Lawrence Gilman, critic of the New York Tribune, wrote: uThis IS music of exceptional strength and originality, sinewy in structure, distinguished in speech, strikingly independent and self-sprung, and with a curious astringency of fiavor that sets it- apart from any other American music that we can recall. It is a superb piece of writing, and we can think of no contemporary Who would not have been justified in patting himself on the back if he had written it . First piano sonata has been played by Oliver Denton, pianist in Aeolian Hall, New York, and by the composer. The following criticism is in the same congratulatory mood as those already given: There is charm, originality of conception and a curiously buoyant suggestion of courageous youth and poised maturity in the work . In 1920, Mr. Morris gave a Recital of his own compositions in Aeolian Hall, New York, the program consisting of two piano sonatas and sonata for violin and piano. His songs have been sung by Alma Beck and Lambert Murphy. Mr. Morris is one of the founders of the American Music Guild which gives concerts of American music. Page 162