Nadia Boulanger

Biographical information

RolesReferee
SexFemale
Full nameNadia Juliette•Boulanger
Used nameNadia•Boulanger
Born16 September 1887 in Paris IXe, Paris (FRA)
Died22 October 1979 in Paris IXe, Paris (FRA)
NOC France

Biography

Nadia Boulanger’s father and grandfather were both teachers at the Paris Conservatory. She received her first music lessons from her mother, a Russian countess and professional singer. At the conservatory, Nadia studied organ and composition, graduating with honors. As early as 1908 she won the 2nd Rome Prize for her cantata La Sirene and subsequently composed songs and pieces for piano and cello.

When Boulanger realized that, as a composer, she could not compare with her sister Lili (1893-1918), Nadia decided to work primarily as a teacher. She taught at the Paris Conservatory (1909-24) and the Ecole Normale de Musique (1920-39). Then, she was appointed to the newly founded American Conservatory in Fontainebleau as a teacher of composition and orchestration and became director of the faculty in 1950. Among her students were many young American composers, including Aaron Copland (1900-1990), one of the most important representatives of American modernity.

Among her students, Boulanger was known and notorious for the discipline she demanded, but at the same time admired for her pursuit of perfection in form and technique. She admired the modern French composers and, for instance Igor Stravinsky, but rejected the Viennese school of Arnold Schönberg (1874-1951).

Boulanger visited the United States several times and was the first woman to conduct one of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s regular subscription concerts. She also lived in the United States during World War II, teaching at colleges and the Juillard School of Music in New York.

After returning to Paris in 1946, she took over the piano accompaniment class at the Conservatory and gave private lessons as long as her health permitted. On her 90th birthday, tributes were paid to her by many of her students.

Referee

Games Sport (Discipline) / Event NOC / Team Phase Unit Role As
1924 Summer Olympics Art Competitions FRA Nadia Boulanger
Music, Open (Olympic) Final Standings Judge