Her Music, Her Story

Most people know Nadia Boulanger as the teacher of the 20th century, the mentor behind Copland, Piazzolla, Bernstein, Glass, and hundreds more. But long before she became a legendary pedagogue, Nadia was a composer with a distinct, elegant voice of her own. Her piano writing carries the same clarity she demanded from her students: clean lines, purposeful counterpoint, and emotional depth without excess. It’s French, it’s modern (in a gentle way), and it’s beautifully crafted. A perfect entry point is Vers la vie nouvelle , a short but powerful piece that moves from solemnity to hope. It feels like someone slowly opening a door and letting in light. The harmonies widen, the textures change, and you sense a quiet resilience underneath it all. Pair it with Trois pièces pour piano , a set that shows Nadia’s range, from introspective and lyrical to crisp and rhythmic. Nothing here is wasted; she says exactly what she means and moves on. Listening to Nadia’s piano music is like hearing...

Lili Boulanger burned brightly and far too quickly. Born in 1893, she became the first woman to win the Prix de Rome, yet her life was cut short at just 24. Still, what she left behind glows with unmistakable brilliance: music full of tenderness, luminous color, and emotional honesty. Although best known for her choral and orchestral works, Lili’s piano pieces reveal the intimacy of her voice: poetic, delicate, and deeply human. Start with Trois Morceaux for piano. These short pieces (Nocturne, Cortège, and D’un jardin clair) feel like three little windows into her world. They’re atmospheric without being fussy, and each one captures a mood with effortless clarity. Then explore Prelude en Re bemol.  This piece surprises you from the first measure. It’s darker than people expect from Lili. It is tense, searching, and harmonically adventurous. The music unfolds with a quiet urgency, moving through different colors that feel almost like someone thinking out loud at the keyboard. Sh...

Emma Lou Diemer (1927-2024, USA) Emma Lou Diemer was a composer whose music radiates joy, rhythm, and curiosity. She grew up in Kansas City, studied at Yale and Eastman, and built a long career writing for orchestra, choir, organ, electronic instruments but the piano was always very close to her heart. Diemer’s music doesn’t try to sound like anyone else’s. It’s clear, bold, and often playful, moving easily between tonal lyricism and modernism.  Tocatta (1979) - This piece bursts with rhythmic drive and spark. Written for the American Guild of Organists but later arranged for piano, it’s full of motoric energy and bright harmonies that recall both Bach and jazz. For the pianist, it’s a workout in control and endurance fast patterns that need clarity, but also a sense of fun.  Her Piano Sonata No. 3 (2000) is full of energy, color, and personality, music that feels alive under the hands. The first movement ( Serenade/toccata)  brings b right rhythms and lively gestures ...

Lera Auerbach (b. 1973, Russia/Austria/USA) Lera Auerbach is a composer, pianist, and writer whose music combines intense emotion with brilliant craft. Born in Chelyabinsk, a city in the Ural Mountains or Russia and now based in the U.S., she started composing at a young age and quickly gained recognition for her expressive, dramatic, and highly pianistic works. Her works can be virtuosic, but they are always deeply expressive, exploring both inner reflection and theatrical drama. Lera Auerbach’s Twenty-Four Preludes for Piano (Op. 41) , composed in 1999, spans all major and minor keys, creating a full tonal journey from C major to D minor. Commissioned by Tom and Vivian Waldeck in collaboration with the Caramoor International Music Festival, Auerbach premiered the cycle herself in New York on July 23, 1999. A typical performance lasts about 39 minutes, making it substantial yet accessible for recitals. Each prelude has its own character, ranging from short bursts of energy to reflect...

Žibuoklė Martinaitytė (b. 1973, Lithuania/USA) Lithuanian-born and now based in New York, Žibuoklė Martinaitytė is a composer whose music blends striking emotional depth with refined sonic architecture. Martinaitytė’s music often revolves around themes of beauty, memory, and perception. She writes with an emphasis on texture, time, and transformation, rather than simply on virtuosic display. According to her publisher, her works “explore the tensions and longings of identity and place.”  Flashes of Illuminations (2016) – A solo piano piece that lasts about 6′30″ and explores shimmering textures, rapid figuration and reflections of light.   Heights and Depths of Love (2019) This work reveals Martinaitytė’s more emotional side. Harmonic clusters and sustained tones blur into tenderness; bursts of motion rise like breathless confessions. The piece never settles. It’s music of vulnerability and courage, requiring the pianist to shape color and energy rather than rel...

Born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and now based in the United States, Liliya Ugay is a composer and pianist whose music balances bold contemporary expression with deep roots in storytelling, memory, and identity. Her works often weave together strands of her Central Asian heritage, her experience as an immigrant, and her fascination with texture and timbre. Ugay is also a pianist herself, which shines through in the way she writes for the instrument: she understands both its power and its fragility, its percussive bite and its capacity for intimate song. Among her piano works, Scenes from the Motherhood stands out as an extraordinary cycle. Written after Ugay became a mother and inspired by Schumann's Scenes from Childhood , it captures the intensity, tenderness, exhaustion, and joy of early parenthood. Each miniature feels like a snapshot, sometimes fragile and lyrical, other times restless and raw. There’s humor, vulnerability, and even a touch of chaos, reflecting the emotional ...

Born in Almansa, Spain in 1982, Sonia Megías is a composer, singer, and multidisciplinary artist whose imagination refuses to be boxed in. She calls her expanded notations partituras raras (“strange scores”), and they can take many form, video-scores, tactile scores, edible scores, even skirt-scores. For Megías, a score is not just a set of instructions, but an artwork in itself, a playful and ritualistic path toward sound. Her projects often focus on community and transformation. Megías has written a fascinating body of piano works, each with its own personality. Two highlights stand out: SoLnatina-  Her playful twist on the sonatina form. It’s witty, light, and self-aware, bending classical expectations while keeping its charm. Pianists will find it both humorous and thought-provoking, as if the piece is smiling at tradition while inventing its own rules. Suite de Alejandría-  Written for pianist-singer , this suite dissolves the boundary between performer and narrator. Th...

Galina Ustvolskaya (1919–2006) , a Russian composer and student of Shostakovich, carved out a voice so singular that even her teacher called her music “a force of nature.” Often stark, uncompromising, and deeply spiritual, her works are unforgettable for their intensity and raw honesty.  Ustvolskaya rejected trends, fashions, and even the influence of her own teacher, forging a style of absolute conviction.  Her music is direct and searing, built from pounding rhythms, dense clusters, and unrelenting energy. It’s not easy listening, but it is unforgettable.  Her piano sonatas are the heart of her output. They are works of enormous physical and emotional challenge, often sparse yet overwhelming in power.  For pianists, performing Ustvolskaya means entering a world of complete intensity, where every note is charged with meaning. Though long underappreciated, her works have now been embraced internationally. Pianists, ensembles, and listeners continue to rediscover he...

Unsuk Chin (b. 1961) is a South Korean composer whose music is dazzling in both imagination and craft. Now based in Berlin, she’s celebrated worldwide for her bold orchestral colors, intricate rhythms, and the dreamlike quality that often permeates her works. Her approach combines rigorous structure with a sense of fantasy, her pieces feel like journeys into other worlds.  Chin’s style is often described as kaleidoscopic. She draws inspiration from everything from literature and myth to mathematics, transforming ideas into vibrant soundscapes. Her works often balance playfulness and complexity, creating music that is both intellectually rigorous and emotionally gripping.  Her Études for piano are among her most striking contributions to the repertoire. Demanding both technically and mentally, they explore sound in dazzling new ways, stretching the instrument’s possibilities. Pianists who take on Chin’s music find themselves in a universe where virtuosity meets poetry. Ch...