Regina Cohn Watson (April 23, 1845 - July 31, 1913) was a composer, pianist, and teacher who was born in Germany. Her family later moved to America, first to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, then to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, where Regina lived for the rest of her life. In 1873, she married Lewis H. Watson, a Civil War veteran who had fought with an infantry unit from Maine. Regina Watson studied music with

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

and

Karl Tausig Karl Tausig (sometimes "Carl"; born Karol Tausig; 4 November 184117 July 1871) was a Polish virtuoso pianist, arranger and composer. He is generally regarded as Franz Liszt's most esteemed pupil, and one of the greatest pianists of all time. L ...

in Europe, and with

Bernhard Ziehn Bernhard Ziehn (January 20, 1845 – September 8, 1912) was a German-American music theorist and music teacher. Biography Ziehn was born in Erfurt, Germany.Winthrop Sargeant, "Bernhard Ziehn, Precursor," ''Musical Quarterly'' 19, no. 2 (Apr. 1 ...

, probably in Chicago. After she moved to America, she gave lecture recitals on topics such as medieval French music, Italian music, and folk songs. She performed as a piano soloist in recitals and with orchestras. She belonged to the

American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

(ASCAP) and helped found the Musical Art Society of Chicago. Watson is best remembered today as a piano teacher. Her students included Teresa Carreno,

Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge aka Liz Coolidge (30 October 1864 – 4 November 1953), born Elizabeth Penn Sprague, was an American pianist and patron of music, especially of chamber music. Biography Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge's father was a wea ...

, Phyllis Fergus Hoyt,

Peter Lutkin Peter Christian Lutkin (March 27, 1858 – December 27, 1931) was an American organist, choral conductor, and composer. Career Peter Lutkin was born in Thompsonville, Wisconsin on March 27, 1858. His parents, Peter Christian and Hannah (O ...

, Veronica Murphy, and Theodora Sturkow-Ryder. Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge organized an effort in 1916 to build and name a studio at the

MacDowell Colony MacDowell is an artist's residency program in Peterborough, New Hampshire, United States, founded in 1907 by composer Edward MacDowell and his wife, pianist and philanthropist Marian MacDowell. Prior to July 2020, it was known as the MacDow ...

in Watson's memory. Composer

Amy Beach Amy Marcy Cheney Beach (September 5, 1867December 27, 1944) was an American composer and pianist. She was the first successful American female composer of large-scale art music. Her "Gaelic" Symphony, premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in ...

used the Regina Watson Studio during her residency at the Colony. It was renovated in 1993 and became the MacDowell Colony's first barrier-free studio that was accessible to everyone. Watson's music was published by the Clayton F. Summy Company. Her compositions include:

Piano

*''Arabian Nigh''t *''Bourree la Gigue'' *''Cradle Song'' *''Dansons la Gigue'' *''Mazourka Etude'' *''Mignon, a Portrait'' *''Scherzino''

Vocal

*"Aus Drang und Lieb fuer Dich" *"Countess Laura" (text by

George Henry Boker George Henry Boker (October 6, 1823 – January 2, 1890) was an American poet, playwright, and diplomat. Early years and education Boker was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father was Charles S. Boker, a wealthy banker, whose finan ...

) *"Cupid's Blunder" *"Explanation" *"Lune Blanche"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Regina 1845 births 1913 deaths American composers American women composers American pianists German composers German pianists 19th-century American women musicians ASCAP composers and authors 19th-century women pianists