The Guardian has a great piece up highlighting “Classical Music Moonlighters“.

The list of composers who worked on music after they finished their day jobs includes:

  • Ethel Smyth (who was a composer first and turned to writing books – including a multi-volume autobiography – later in life)
  • St. Hildegard of Bingen (abbess, mystic, healer, author, composer)
  • Lera Auerbach (a novelist and visual artist, she is also well-known in Russia as a poet)

Which makes me think: who else?  Clara Schumann was a pianist first and a composer second, and Nadia Boulanger was an educator first.  How many women were first wives, mothers, and homemakers before they could spend time composing at the keyboard?

Why don’t we all take a listen to Spotify’s collection of works by women and add some other names to the list!