Ita Beausang facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ita Beausang
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Ita Beausang (2016)
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| Born | 18 November 1936 Cork, Ireland
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| Died | 20 November 2024 (aged 88) Dublin, Ireland
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| Nationality | Irish |
| Other names | Ita Margaret Hogan |
| Occupation | Musicologist |
Ita Margaret Beausang (born Ita Hogan; 18 November 1936 – 20 November 2024) was an Irish expert in music history and a teacher. She was known for her important work in understanding Irish music.
In 1962, she finished the very first PhD in musicology (the study of music) ever written in Ireland. She focused on Irish music from the Classical period. She also studied Irish women composers, especially Ina Boyle.
Contents
Life and Career
Ita Beausang was born in Cork, Ireland, on 18 November 1936. She loved music from a young age.
Early Studies and First PhD
She studied at University College Cork with a famous teacher named Aloys Fleischmann. She earned her Bachelor of Music degree in 1956. Then she got her Master of Arts degree in 1958.
In 1962, she completed her PhD thesis. It was titled "Anglo-Irish Music, 1780–1830." This was a big achievement. It was the first musicology PhD in Ireland. Later, this work became her book, Anglo-Irish Music, 1780–1830. She published it in 1966 using her maiden name, Ita Margaret Hogan.
Teaching and Research Roles
From 1954 to 1960, Ita taught at the Cork School of Music. After she got married and moved to Dublin in 1960, she continued her work.
She helped with research for a large history project called A New History of Ireland. This was from 1973 to 1974. In 1986, she became a lecturer at the College of Music in Dublin. This college is now called the TU Dublin Conservatory of Music and Drama. She even served as acting director for a year, from 1995 to 1996.
Retirement and Continued Influence
Ita Beausang retired in 2001. But she stayed very active in promoting music education in Ireland. She helped with studies on how to improve music teaching across the country. She was also part of the executive committee for the Feis Ceoil, a famous Irish music festival, from 2003 to 2009.
She received special honors for her contributions. In 2010, she became an Honorary Member of the Society for Musicology in Ireland (SMI). In 2014, she received Honorary Life Membership from the Society for Music Education in Ireland. In 2022, she was given the Harrison Medal. This award recognized her important research.
Ita Beausang passed away in Dublin on 20 November 2024. She was 88 years old.
Research Interests
Ita Beausang was very interested in music from Ireland's past. She published her book Anglo-Irish Music, 1780–1830 under her maiden name, Hogan.
Focus on Irish Composers
Her book was a key text for studying music in Ireland during the late 1700s and early 1800s. It was one of the only major studies about Irish composers of that time. These composers included famous names like John Field and John Andrew Stevenson. Her book is still seen as a very important work on this topic.
Because of her deep knowledge, she became an editor for the Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland. This big book was published in 2013.
Music Education and Women in Music
Ita Beausang believed that teaching and research should always go hand-in-hand. This idea came from her mentor, Aloys Fleischmann. She used her research to help improve music education. She worked on topics like how to teach piano and even music therapy.
She strongly supported the idea of a national system for music education in Ireland. She helped create the first full-time university course for music performance in Ireland. This was at the TU Dublin Conservatory in 1990.
In her later years, Ita Beausang began to research women who made music in the 1800s and early 1900s. She spent time studying Ina Boyle, an important Irish composer. Her research on Ina Boyle was published as a book in 2018.
Publications
Ita Beausang wrote and edited several important books about music.
Books She Wrote
- Anglo-Irish Music, 1780–1830 (Cork: Cork University Press, 1966).
- (with Séamas de Barra) Ina Boyle (1889–1967). A Composer's Life (Cork: Cork University Press, 2018), ISBN: 978-1-78205-264-7.
Books She Edited
- Jim Cooke: Coláiste an Cheoil/College of Music: A Musical Journey 1890–1993 (Dublin: DIT College of Music, 1994)
- (with Jennifer O'Connor-Madsen and Laura Watson): Women and Music in Ireland (= Irish Musical Studies vol. 13) (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2022); ISBN: 978-1-78327-755-1.
