Theodora Cormontan

Theodora Cormontan (9 June 184026 October 1922) was a Norwegian American singer, church musician, pianist, music publisher and composer, one of the first Norwegian women to have her classical compositions published and widely performed, and one of the first woman to start a music publishing business in Norway. Biography Cormontan began her musical education with the town musician in Arendal, where her father served as a Lutheran pastor. She moved to Copenhagen in 1863 to continue her education and pursue a musical career. Her time there was cut short by the death of her mother in 1865, prompting her return to Arendal to run the household of her father. After returning to Copenhagen in 1867-1868 and giving a concert tour in Norway in 1869, from 1872–1879 she continued her career in Arendal, giving both vocal and piano concerts, composing works for the piano and voice (a number of which were published by Warmuth, the leading music publisher in the region), and establishing a music lending library. In 1879 she opened a music publishing house, focusing on the works of women composers. In 1886, as a result of a major bank failure and a fire that destroyed the family home, Cormontan was forced to sell her music business and immigrate with her father and sister to the United States, where she continued her musical career. In 1887, shortly after her arrival in Sacred Heart, Minnesota, a train accident impaired Cormontan's mobility and her ability to stand, forcing her to give up voice recitals. She focused instead on piano and organ performances as well as giving music lessons, leading choirs, and continuing her composition work, living first with a married sister in Sacred Heart, then with two brothers in Franklin, Minnesota. The family's economic fortunes slowly declined after 1900. In 1910, at age 70, Theodora Cormontan was the youngest of four surviving unmarried siblings and was the main wage earner in the household. After the deaths of her brothers, Cormontan and her sister entered a home for elderly Norwegian immigrants in Decorah, Iowa, in 1917. After her death in 1922, her compositions largely disappeared from view until 2011, when boxes containing her musical legacy were discovered in St. Peter, Minnesota, and recordings of her work were released in Norway, Denmark, and the US.