Emmy Wegener

Emmy Heil Frensel-Wegener (14 June 1901 in Amsterdam – 11 January 1973 in Laren (North Holland) was a Dutch violinist, pianist, poet and composer. Life and career Wegener was the daughter of composer Bertha Frensel Wegener-Koopman and American insurance agent John Frensel-Wegener. She studied at the music school in Bussum and then in England, then continued her studies at the Conservatory in Amsterdam where she received a degree in violin with Felice Togni. She also studied composition with Sem Dresden, clarinet with Willem Brohm and Gregorian chant. In 1926 Wegener married Jan Heil, but the couple divorced in 1932. In 1934 she served on the jury for the evaluation of vocal quartet a cappella compositions for the Dutch Association for Contemporary Music, along with Hendrik Andriessen, Henk Badings, Anthon van der Horst and Daniel Ruyneman, but the jury awarded no first prize, finding no “composition of exemplary meaning” among the 47 submissions. In 1935 Wegener experienced a serious illness that progressed to paralysis by 1950. She wrote at least one poem which appeared in De Nieuwe Gids. The city of Gorinchem named a street after her. Works Wegener composed works for orchestra, c