Diane Thome
The first woman to graduate from Princeton University with a PhD in Music and the first woman to compose computer-synthesized music, Diane Thome declared her intention to become a composer at the age of eight and began her studies at twelve. She served on the University of Washington School of Music from 1977 to 2006 as a theory and composition professor and as chair of the composition department. In addition to being an accomplished pianist, composer, and teacher Thome practiced yoga and meditated for an hour every morning before breakfast, reminding us at OSW the importance of our morning yoga sessions. Her work includes solo, chamber, orchestral, and choral pieces as well as electronic and electro-acoustic music, in which live performance is accompanied by pre-recorded computer-generated sound.
Emilie & Marion Bauer
Marion Bauer
Emilie Francis Bauer
Once upon a time in Walla Walla—it was the late 1880s—a little girl named Marion sat on a piano bench, watching and learning music skills from her older sister, Emilie Frances. Seventeen years apart in age, the Bauer sisters would eventually move to New York City, where each in her own way would help shape American music history.
Their first music teacher was their mother, Julia Heymann Bauer, who taught languages at Whitman College. A Whitman College professor of our time, the violinist Susan Pickett, wrote the book Marion and Emilie Frances Bauer: From the Wild West to American Musical Modernism. Marion would study for a while in Paris, becoming the first American student of the legendary Nadia Boulanger.
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- Women's History Music Moment: Marion and Emilie Francis Bauer
Northwest Public Broadcasting
Gloria Wilson Swisher
Born in Seattle, Gloria Wilson Swisher and studied at the University of Washington before going on to achieve her PhD in music composition and theory from the Eastman School of Music in 1960. Upon returning to the Seattle area, she taught at numerous universities including Washington State University, Pacific Lutheran University, Shoreline Community College, and University of Washington. Outside of teaching she remained active in the musical scene performing with her piano duo partner and composing new works - many inspired by her travels to Mexico and Japan. Gloria remained an active part in making sure the music stayed alive for generations to come serving on the Seattle Opera Board, chair of the advisory committee for the UW School of Music and The Board of Ladies Musical Club among others. She was a founding member of Ars Nova Press, a non-profit music heritage preservations society. ​​