Adel Verna Heinrich (July 20, 1926 – August 10, 2022) was an American composer,

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

, and university teacher. She taught music at

Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine, United States. Founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, it was renamed Waterville College in 1821. The donations of Christian philanthropist Gardner ...

until her retirement in 1988.

Personal life and career

Born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, Heinrich graduated from Flora Stone Mather College with a Bachelor of Arts in 1951, and a master's degree in sacred music from the

Union Theological Seminary Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York (shortened to UTS or Union) is a Private college, private ecumenical liberal Christian seminary in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, affiliated with Columbia University since 1928. Presently, Co ...

in 1954. She studied the organ with

Hugh Porter Hugh William Porter MBE (born 27 January 1940) is one of Britain's greatest former professional cyclists, winning four world titles in the individual pursuit - more than any other rider - as well as a Commonwealth Games gold medal in 1966. He ...

John Harvey John Harvey may refer to: People Academics *John Harvey (astrologer) (1564–1592), English astrologer and physician *John Harvey (architectural historian) (1911–1997), British architectural historian, who wrote on English Gothic architecture a ...

, E. Power Biggs, Andre Marchal, and

Jean Langlais Jean François-Hyacinthe Langlais III (15 February 1907 – 8 May 1991) was a French composer of modern classical music, organist, and improviser. He described himself as "" ("Breton, of Catholic faith"). Biography Langlais was born in La ...

, the harpsichord with Eugenia Earle, and composition with Norman Coke-Jephcott. In 1976, she received a doctorate from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

based on her thesis ''Bach's Die Kunst der Fuge : a living compendium of fugal procedures''. Her book ''Organ and Harpsichord Music by Women Composers'' was published in 1991. Her compositions for organ include ''A Carol is Born'' (a music drama for two sopranos, alto, flute, organ) and the oratorio ''The Nazarene''. Heinrich taught at Colby College in

Waterville, Maine Waterville is a city in Kennebec County, Maine, United States, on the west bank of the Kennebec River. A college town, the city is home to Colby College, a New England Small College Athletic Conference, NESCAC college, and Thomas College. As ...

, from 1964 to 1988, where she was associate professor of music and director of chapel music. Heinrich died on August 10, 2022, at the age of 96.

Awards

Heinrich received the Award of Merit from the

National Federation of Music Clubs The National Federation of Music Clubs (NFMC) is an American non-profit philanthropic music organization that promotes American music, performers, and composers. NFMC endeavors to strengthen quality music education by supporting "high standards o ...

and the Clemens Award in music. She also received three grants, the Maximum Humanities Travel Grant to use and study old organs in Europe, a Mellon Grant to start a course on Shakespeare and music, and a Humanities Grant for further study into Shakespeare and music. In 2003, Heinrich won the title of the International Musician of the Year by the

International Biographical Centre The International Biographical Centre was a publisher owned by Melrose Press Ltd that specializes in producing biographical publications, such as the ''Dictionary of International Biography'', ''Great Men and Women of Science'' and other vanity a ...

. Since 2007, the Adel Heinrich Award for Achievement in Musicological Research has been presented to graduate students by

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1967 by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. Case ...

which comprises the Flore Stone Mather school where Heinrich studied music.

References

External links

Colby College photograph of Adel Heinrich conducting a congregation singing music from Handel's ''Messiah'' in 1978
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heinrich, Adel 1926 births 2022 deaths Musicians from Cleveland Colby College faculty Case Western Reserve University alumni Union Theological Seminary alumni American women organists 20th-century American composers 20th-century American organists 21st-century American composers 21st-century American organists 21st-century American keyboardists 20th-century American women composers 21st-century American women composers American women academics