Florence Parr Gere

Florence Beatrice Parr Gere (April 25, 1875 – September 4, 1964) was a Canadian-born American pianist and composer. Early life Florence Beatrice Parr was born in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, the eldest child of Florence Robbins Parr and Henry Albert Parr. Her father was a dentist associated with the University of Pennsylvania Dental School; Dr. Parr’s varied career included espionage for the Confederacy during the American Civil War, and treating presidents Ulysses S. Grant and Chester A. Arthur. Florence Parr trained as a musician under Theodor Leschetizky and Isidor Philipp, and studied composition in Paris and Vienna, and in New York with Max Spicker. Career Gere wrote both music and lyrics for songs, with titles such as “A New World is Born” and “I Walked with Anguish in my Heart”. Gere’s songs were popular with concert singers in New York, including Johanna Gadski, Maggie Teyte, and Marguerite Namara. She also composed music for settings of poems by others, including a setting of John Keats’ “The Devon Maid”. Composer Meta Schumann used Gere’s lyrics for her song “Thee.” She hosted gatherings of musicians at her New York home. In 1922 she spent six months in France and Switzerland,