Ivey, Jean Eichelberger (1923—)

American composer. Born in Washington, D.C., on July 3, 1923; daughter of Joseph S. Eichelberger (editor of an anti-feminist newspaper) and Elizabeth (Pfeffer) Eichelberger; earned her Bachelor of Arts from Trinity College on full scholarship in 1944; Master's Degree in music from Peabody Conservatory in 1946; second Master's at Eastman School of Music; awarded Doctorate of Philosophy at the University of Torontoin 1972; among her teachers were Claudio Arrau, Pasquale Tallarico, Katherine Bacon , and Herbert El-well.

Taught at the Peabody Conservatory, Trinity College, Catholic University in Washington, and College Misericordia; became a leader in electronic composition and was founder-director of the Peabody Electronic Music Studio.

Composing and conducting are two of the last male bastions, though women are steadily making inroads into these fields. Jean Eichelberger Ivey battled this prejudice not only in the field of music but also in academia where women were less likely to be awarded tenure, foundation grants, performance opportunities, and commercial recordings. Much of the time, Ivey made her living as a teacher of piano, organ, and theory while she was composing. While teaching, she continued to compose for orchestra, chamber ensembles, chorus, solos, and electronic music. In 1968, she was the only woman composer represented at the Eastman-Rochester American Music Festival. Her electronic music, Continuous Form, has been played many times, especially during station breaks on Channel 13 in New York City and on WGBH Channel 2 in Boston, both educational stations. The playing of her music in short intervals gained her a wide audience.

Ivey had mixed feelings about her reputation in electronic music: "My favorite medium is voice. It was mainly a historical accident that my electronic music tended to be featured in the late sixties and early seventies in connection with the Peabody studio. I prefer not to be too identified with electronic music." In fact most of her compositions were written for traditional instruments. Some, like Testament of Eve, offer a startling opportunity to rethink the myth of the Garden of Eden from a woman's perspective.

sources:

Block, Adrienne Fried, and Carol Neuls-Bates, compilers and eds. Women in American Music: A Bibliography of Music and Literature. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1979.

Cohen, Aaron I. International Encyclopedia of Women Composers. 2 vols. NY: Books & Music (USA), 1987.

suggested reading:

Ivey, Jean Eichelberger, and Pauline Oliveros. "The Composer as Teacher," in Peabody Conservatory Alumni Bulletin. Vol. XIV, no. 1, 1974.

——. Observations by Composers. Ed. by Elliott Schwartz. Praeger, 1973.

related media:

"A Woman Is …," a film about Jean Eichelberger Ivey, 1973.

collections:

An interview at the Yale University Music Library; thesis at Eastman School of Music, Sibley Music Library.

John Haag , Athens, Georgia