One of the major influences on modern classical music was the strong-willed French music teacher, Nadia Boulanger (1887-1979). She bagan her career as a composer, but gave it up at the age of 33 to devote her time to teaching. Her students included more than 1,200 musicians, including Aaron Copland, Virgil Thompson, and Walter Piston.

Juliette Nadia Boulanger was born on September 16, 1887 in the famed Paris neighborhood of Montmartre to a Russian mother, Raissa Myschetsky Shuvalov, and French father, Ernest Boulanger. The couple had four daughters, two of whom died in infancy. Nadia, as she was called, was the second daughter. Her surviving sister, Marie Juliette (known as Lili), was born in 1893.

Background and Schooling

Music was in Boulanger's blood. Her father was a composer, conductor, and professor at the Paris Conservatory. Her mother had taken voice lessons at the Conservatory after seeing Ernest perform in St. Petersburg. Among their...