Smith, Julia Frances (1911–1989)

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Smith, Julia Frances (1911–1989)

American composer. Born Julia Frances Smith in Denton, Texas, on January 25, 1911; died in New York City on April 27, 1989; one of seven children of Julia (Miller) Smith (a piano teacher) and James Willis Smith (a professor of mathematics); North Texas State College, B.A.; New York University, M.A., 1933; married Oscar Vielehr (an engineer), on April 23, 1938.

Applied for a composition fellowship at Juilliard to study with Rubin Goldmark; began teaching at Hamlin School in New Jersey; member of the Orchestrette Classique, an all-women's orchestra, for which she composed several works; composed Cynthia Parker which premiered (1939), the first of several operas; became a leader in having women's compositions performed; wrote a book on Aaron Copland (1955), and Directory of American Women Composers (1970); one of five women composers honored by the National Council of Women of the U.S. (1963); premiered the opera Daisy based on the life of Juliette Gordon Low (1973) which was performed more than 30 times in the next six years.

Julia Frances Smith was born in Denton, Texas, in 1911, one of seven children of Julia Miller Smith , a piano teacher, and James Willis Smith, a professor of mathematics. She received her A.B. from North Texas State College where she composed the school's alma mater, and her M.A. from New York University in 1933.

When Smith applied for a fellowship to study composition at Juilliard in 1933, Rubin Goldmark, her future teacher, told her, "I have decided not to waste any more of Juilliard's money on fellowships for women. … All you gifted women composers come to New York, study a few years, then go back home, get married, have children, and that is the last that one ever hears of them as composers. Men will starve to become and remain composers but your sex has proved time again that you simply can't face the rigors of life alone." A spirited Texan, Smith replied, "This one can; Von Mickwitz, Friedberg, and George Wedge believe in me, why can't you?" Goldmark weakened, saying, "If you turn out like most of my women students, this will be the last fellowship I will ever extend to a woman."

Smith, who composed six operas as well as many other works, proved her point. Her first opera, Cynthia Parker, premiered in 1939 in New York, launching her career as a composer. Hollywood was even interested in filming it, but Smith refused to change the ending in order to ensure box-office success. Other operas followed, including Daisy, based on the life of Juliette Gordon Low , which was performed 30 times in the six years after it was written. Smith also wrote works for piano, voice, organ, chamber groups, chorus, and orchestra.

Interested in the piano pieces of Aaron Copland, she wrote a book about them which appeared in 1955. She also worked to ensure that the compositions of other women composers were heard. In this effort, she wrote Directory of American Women Composers, published in 1970. The following year, she sent a letter to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), pointing out that no woman had ever received an outright grant in music, despite the fact that over 600 women composers were working at the time. Sizable grants for women from the NEA began in 1974. Despite her work as an author and activist, Smith's efforts as a composer continued. She proved in her long and successful career that women could endure in the musical world.