Amy Beach (1867-1944) was widely praised as an important American composer, but after her death, her works fell into obscurity. Curtis presents an overview of Beach’s life and focuses in particular on her Piano Concerto (1899) by way of evaluating her place in music history. In the Concerto, Beach draws upon three of her own songs to provide thematic material. Illustrated with slides and recorded examples. This presentation is in anticipation of The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra’s performance of Beach’s Concerto on Nov. 15 and 17, with Saet-Byeol Kim, piano and Arild Remmereit, conductor.