Bright, Dora Estella (1863–1951)
Bright, Dora Estella (1863–1951)
English composer, organist, pianist, and first woman to win the Lucas Medal for composition, whose work was played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Name variations: Mrs. Knatchbull. Born in Sheffield, England, on August 16, 1863; died in London on November 16, 1951; daughter of an amateur musician; studied at the Royal Academy of Music under Walter Macfarren and Ebenezer Prout; married a Captain Knatchbull of Bath, in 1892.
Dora Estella Bright was a pioneer in music. She was the first woman to be awarded the prestigious Lucas Medal for composition (1888); the first woman to hear her music performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra (1892); the first person to give a recital of purely English music, which she called From Byrd to Cowen (1892); and the first Englishwoman to play her own concertos in Leipzig, Dresden, and Cologne. In 1880, during a concert tour of Germany, she played her own Piano Concerto in A-Minor with the noted composer Carl Reinecke conducting. Bright wrote eight orchestral pieces as well as compositions for chamber orchestra and piano. Following her marriage in 1892, her public appearances became less frequent. Bright's music for a ballet scena was danced by Adeline Genée at the Playhouse in 1907.
John Haag , Athens, Georgia