Maura Bosch facts for kids

Marjorie Ann Hess, also known as Maura Bosch, is an American composer. She was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1956. Maura Bosch loved music and studied it at two famous universities. She earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the Hartt College of Music in 1978. Later, she continued her studies at Princeton University, getting a Master of Fine Arts degree in 1982 and a Ph.D. in 2008. She learned from many great teachers like Alexander Lepak and Milton Babbitt.

Maura Bosch's Career Journey

Maura Bosch married another composer named Jeffrey Brooks. For a while, they lived in Bath, England. After returning to the United States, they made their home in Minneapolis.

Starting a Music Company

From 1990 to 1997, Maura Bosch helped start and run a music theater company called Corn Palace Productions. This company created many new musical shows. Three of these shows were operas written by Maura Bosch herself. One of her operas was based on a poem by James Merrill, and she worked with him to write the story for the opera.

Playing in an Ensemble

Maura Bosch also started and played with a music group called Blackstone Bosch. This group performed from 1997 until 2000.

Music for a Cause

In 2007, Maura Bosch worked with the Tubman Family Alliance. This group helps women who have faced difficult situations. Maura Bosch composed a special musical piece based on the experiences of these women.

Creating New Operas

In 2009, Maura Bosch wrote both the music and the story for her fourth opera, called Art and Desire. This opera imagines a meeting between two famous artists, Lee Krasner and Clement Greenberg. The story takes place twenty years after the death of Krasner's husband, Jackson Pollock.

Maura Bosch's Compositions

Maura Bosch has written many different kinds of music. Her works include pieces for choirs, singers, musical instruments, and operas.

Selected Musical Works

Here are some of her well-known compositions:

• The Disappearance of Luisa Porto, an opera (1989)
• Mirabell’s Book of Numbers, an opera (1991)
• The Damnation of Felicity, an opera (1994)
• 3 Hymns (1995)
• My Purity (1995)
• Zelda Songs (1997)
• Bronte Songs (1996)
• The Oxen (1993)
• Santuario (1992) for orchestra
• About the Night (1993) for string quartet
• The Turning, a cantata (2007)
• Art and Desire, an opera (2009)

Published Text

Maura Bosch has also published a book about music:

• Everyone can compose music (2008) Princeton University