Internationally recognized concert pianist Virginia Eskin will present a talk and musical performance focusing on three artistic women who came to Cheshire County and lived here during important parts of their creative years. World-renowned novelist Willa Cather (1873-1949), summered in Jaffrey and is buried there; painter Lilla Cabot Perry (1848-1933), settled in Hancock; and important composer Amy Beach (1867-1944), was born in Henniker and spent many summers at the MacDowell Colony. As part of her presentation, Eskin will quote excerpts from Cather’s writings, including her extensive use of musical references. Amy Beach’s prolific career included important premieres with the Boston Symphony, both as a performer and composer. She and Marian MacDowell were close friends in Peterborough, and Mrs. Beach left a substantial legacy to the MacDowell Colony. Eskin will perform examples of Beach’s superb piano compositions that were composed in New Hampshire. The presentation will pay homage to New Hampshire and the creative women it nourished, as it informs and entertains.
Virginia Eskin, a Boston and New Hampshire resident, is an extremely versatile internationally recognized solo pianist, chamber player and lecturer, known for both standard classical repertoire and ragtime. She is a long-time champion of the works of American and European women composers.