Ethel Leginska

Ethel Liggins (13 April 188626 February 1970) was a British pianist, conductor and composer. A student of Theodor Leschetizky, she became widely known as the ‘Paderewski of woman pianists’ and (from 1923) established herself as one of the first female conductors. She studied composition with Rubin Goldmark and Ernest Bloch, and conducting with Eugene Goossens, Robert Heger and Gennaro Papi and conducted many of the world’s leading orchestras from the mid-1920s. She was a pioneer of women’s opportunity in music performance, composition and conducting. Education and marriage Ethel Liggins was born in Hull, Yorkshire, England, to Thomas and Annie Peck Liggins. She made her debut as a pianist in London in 1902 at the age of 16. and from 1906 performed in Europe under the stage name Ethel Leginska, at the suggestion of British socialite Lady Maud Warrender (the wife of Sir George Warrender). At that time the best top-class musicians were Polish, hence the Polish-sounding name “Leginska” considered advantageous to the development of the young pianist musical career. In 1907 Leginska married the composer Emerson Whithorne, whom she had met when they both studied in Vienna. They would some