Jeanne Behrend was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 pianist, music educator, musicologist and composer.

Life

Jeanne Behrend was born in Philadelphia and graduated from the Curtis Institute in 1934, where she studied piano with Josef Hofmann and composition with Rosario Scalero

Rosario Scalero

Natale Rosario Scalero was an Italian violinist, music teacher and composer.By the age of six, Scalero was under the tutelage of Pietro Bertazzi, a violinist, musical instrument maker and instructor at the Conservatorio St. Cecilia in Torino. In 1881, Scalero entered the Liceo Musicale di Torino...

.

After completing her education, she worked as a pianist and composer and taught music at Juilliard, the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music, and Temple University

Temple University

Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...

. Becoming aware of the lack of opportunity for American composers, she became a champion of American music and concentrated on her career as a performer.

Behrend received the Joseph Bearns prize from Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

 in 1936 for composition. She was recommended for sponsorship by Heitor Villa-Lobos

Heitor Villa-Lobos

Heitor Villa-Lobos was a Brazilian composer, described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has become the best-known and most significant Latin American composer to date. He wrote numerous orchestral, chamber, instrumental and vocal works...

 and toured in South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

 from 1945-46. She founded and directed the Philadelphia Festival of Western Hemisphere Music in 1959 and 1960 and was awarded the Order of the Southern Cross

Order of the Southern Cross

The National Order of the Southern Cross is a Brazilian order of chivalry founded by Emperor Pedro I on 1 December 1822. This order was intended to commemorate the independence of Brazil and the coronation of Pedro I...

 from Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

. Behrend died in Philadelphia and her papers are housed in the Free Library in the city.

Works

Selected works include:

• A Child's Day, piano suite
• From Dawn to Dusk for orchestra, 1939
• Lamentation for viola and pianoforte, 1944
• Quiet Piece for piano, 1932
• Festival Fanfare: Prelude to the National Anthem, 1959

Behrend edited Louis Moreau Gottschalk

Louis Moreau Gottschalk

Louis Moreau Gottschalk was an American composer and pianist, best known as a virtuoso performer of his own romantic piano works...

's Notes of a Pianist (New York, 1964) and also selections of his music.