This was not hyperbole. Even as a child prodigy, Clara was placed in the top tier of her contemporaries, both male and female. In some ways she was also ahead of her time. Clara promulgated music by Beethoven, Chopin and Robert Schumann that was largely unknown to the public. She was the first to perform from memory. Clara was also an influential teacher and composer of talent, even though she stopped writing music before the age of forty. She was unquestionably one of the great musicians of the nineteenth century! Music Historian, Jeffrey Engel, will detail Clara’s remarkable career and play selected excerpts from her compositions.

Registration begins April 26th, online or by calling the library’s Reference Department at 860-652-7720. Registration with a valid email address is required to receive login information on the day of the Zoom meeting.

About the presenter: Mr. Engel has been giving lectures devoted to music history in colleges, libraries, retirement communities and other venues for over fifteen years. He believes that such lectures should be entertaining as well as informative. To that end, his explanations are never too technical, and he infuses his material with amusing anecdotes and musical illustrations. Since 2004, Mr. Engel has taught at Northwestern Connecticut Community College. He was a contributor to the 2001 edition of the "New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians." In 2010 he was selected by 'Litchfield Magazine' as one of the fifty most influential people in Litchfield County.