Ivana Marburger Themmen facts for kids

Ivana Marburger Themmen, born on April 7, 1935, is an American composer and pianist. She creates and performs music. Her piece called Concerto for Guitar was a top finalist in a major music competition in 1982. This competition was held at the Kennedy Center.

About Ivana Themmen's Music Career

Ivana Themmen was born in New York City. She started learning to play the piano when she was seven years old. She loved music from a young age.

Her Education and Family

Ivana went to the New England Conservatory of Music. There, she met Harold B. Themmen, and they got married. They had three children: Paris, Allegra, and Tania. Tania is married to Susan Blu, who is a voice actress.

Besides the New England Conservatory, Ivana also studied music in Europe. She attended the Eastman School of Music and the Tanglewood Music Center. She learned from many famous teachers. Some of her teachers included Francis Judd Cooke and Lukas Foss. She also exchanged letters with Eugene Ormandy, a very well-known orchestra conductor.

Her Work and Achievements

Ivana Themmen taught music at the Hampton Conservatory. She also worked as an accompanist for the American Ballet Theatre. This means she played piano for ballet dancers during their rehearsals and performances.

She received grants, which are like special funds, from different arts organizations. These included the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts. These grants helped her create more music.

Ivana was a member of the National Association of Composers, USA (NACUSA). This is a group for composers in America. Her music was published by companies like Lyra Music Company. This means her musical pieces were printed and made available for others to play.

Ivana Themmen's Musical Works

Ivana Themmen has written many different kinds of music. Here are some of her most notable compositions.

Chamber Music

Chamber music is written for a small group of instruments, usually played in a smaller room or "chamber."

• Circles (for flute, French horn, and piano)
• Concept V (for clarinet and viola)
• Concepts (for two violas or clarinet and viola)
• Duets (for flute and bass clarinet)
• Fanfares (for three trumpets)
• For Two Trombones
• Green Willow: A Japanese Fairy Tale (for a narrator, small group of instruments, and sometimes dancers)
• Little Etudes (for three trumpets)
• Montages (for harp)
• Music for Friends, Perhaps (for piano, clarinet, violin, viola, and cello)
• Piece (for flute and piano)
• Quintet (for flute, clarinet, horn, violin, and cello)
• Sextet
• Sonata (for cello and piano)
• Ten Cantos (for two French horns)
• Tetrachiron (for piano played by four hands)
• Wind Game (for a saxophone quartet, which is a group of four saxophones)

Opera

An opera is a play where the story is told mostly through singing, with music played by an orchestra.

• Lucian (the story was written by Norman Simon)

Orchestra Music

Orchestra music is written for a large group of musicians playing many different instruments.

• Concerto for Guitar
• Concerto for Trombone
• Cupid & Psyche (for violin and orchestra)
• Fasching
• Triptych

Vocal Music

Vocal music is written for singers, sometimes with instruments.

• Magnificat (for a chorus and orchestra)
• Mystic Trumpeter (a group of songs set to words by the poet Walt Whitman)
• "Ode to Akhmatova" (for a medium voice and piano, using words by the poet Anna Andreevna Akhmatova)
• Requiem (for a chorus and orchestra)
• Shelter this Candle from the Wind (for a soprano singer and orchestra, using words by the poet Edna St. Vincent Millay)