Bethany Beardslee is an American soprano

Soprano

A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...

 particularly noted for her performances of contemporary classical music

Contemporary classical music

Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to the period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. However, the term may also be employed in a broader sense to refer to all post-1945 modern musical forms.-Categorization:...

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She trained first in the Music Department of Michigan State College and later did post-graduate work at the Juilliard School

Juilliard School

The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...

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Her virtuosity is displayed in many recordings of music of the Second Viennese School

Second Viennese School

The Second Viennese School is the group of composers that comprised Arnold Schoenberg and his pupils and close associates in early 20th century Vienna, where he lived and taught, sporadically, between 1903 and 1925...

 as well as works written for her, notably Milton Babbitt

Milton Babbitt

Milton Byron Babbitt was an American composer, music theorist, and teacher. He is particularly noted for his serial and electronic music.-Biography:...

's Philomel

Milton Babbitt's Philomel

Philomel, a serial composition composed in 1964, combines synthesizer with both live and recorded soprano voice. It is Milton Babbitt’s best-known work and was planned as a piece for performance at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, funded by the Ford Foundation and commissioned for soprano Bethany...

. During the 1950s, she performed world premieres and made historic recordings of music of the Second Viennese School, many with the Camera Concerts under the direction of her first husband Jacques-Louis Monod

Jacques-Louis Monod

Jacques-Louis Monod is an influential French-born, American domiciled composer, pianist and conductor of 20th century and contemporary music.-Paris 1940s: early years under Messiaen and Leibowitz:...

; and later with the pianist Robert Helps

Robert Helps

Robert Helps was an American pianist and composer....

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In 1956, she married the composer Godfrey Winham

Godfrey Winham

Godfrey Winham was an English-born music theorist and composer of contemporary classical music who moved to the United States....

. In 1962 she was given the American Composers Alliance

American Composers Alliance

The American Composers Alliance is an American membership organization dedicated to the publishing and promoting of American contemporary classical music. Founded in 1937 by Aaron Copland, Milton Adolphus and others, it is the oldest national organization of its kind, and represents over 200...

 Laurel Leaf Award

Laurel Leaf Award

The Laurel Leaf Award recognizes the achievement of an individual or group in encouraging and fostering American music. The award has been presented annually by the American Composers Alliance since 1951...

for "distinguished achievement in fostering and encouraging American music."